Through the years, plus things that have come to freshly to our mind, thoughts that others have expressed before me, and we have shared with you, and I trust it's been a blessing. Tonight, we come to the fruitful one, the Lord Jesus. He said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. We're going to see that Christ made some claims to glories that belong to God alone. We've really been seeing this in the studies we've had so far, but again, we shall see it tonight, that the Lord Jesus makes claims to glories, honors, privileges that belong to God alone. As the true vine, we shall see, he replaced the demonstrated human barrenness of Israel, for Israel was called to be the vine originally. Our position today, when we read a passage like this about the vine and the branches, is similar, but not identical with what the Lord's Jewish disciples were experiencing at that time. We'll see these things as we go through. Now, by using a metaphor, that is something that is used to express a spiritual reality, he takes up a common figure, something that's well known, especially in relation to Israel, the vine was something that was very close to their hearts. We're told, and scripture doesn't say this, but we're told that on the iron gates of the temple there was carved a design which represented a vine, because Israel was called to be a vine. Maybe we should look at the scripture that reminds us of that in Isaiah chapter five, Isaiah chapter five, where the metaphor of a vine is used by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter five. And in poetic style, he begins by saying, now let me sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. The beloved, of course, is the Lord. And he says, I will sing a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it and cleared out its stones. He planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst and also made a wine press in it, so he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge please between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard than I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? And now please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedges, it shall be burned. I'll break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Then the interpretation is given. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold oppression, for righteousness, but behold a cry for help. So you see here that the figure of a vine is used by Isaiah to express the responsibility that Israel had in the world, a unique responsibility as a nation to bear fruit for God. The pagan nations were to look on and to envy Israel for what they were able to do in the name of the Lord, and to be drawn to the worship of the true God through Israel, because Israel was called to be his witnesses. And so here was a, a figure that was used by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, but it's not only used by Isaiah, there are others who used it as well. Now, by using this metaphor, our Lord is really making a number of claims. He says, you know, over and over again in John's gospel, I am this, I am this, I am this. For example, he says, I am the true bread, the bread of life. That's an exclusive claim, because he didn't say I am some bread or a loaf. I am the bread, the one that's necessary, the one you need. So it's a claim to exclusivity, that is absolute uniqueness. He's saying that I am the only one, and you must take of me. So he's the bread of life, the required food for time and for eternity. And he says, I am the light of the world. That is, he's the essential guidance for life's path. And then he says, I am the door of the sheep, because he's the sole entrance to the kingdom of God. He says, I'm the good shepherd, for he's the only protection for those who are God's people. I am the resurrection of the life. He's the lone overcomer of man's last enemy. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, because he's the sole path to communion and fellowship with the Father. And then he says, as we saw here, I am the true vine, because he's the ultimate source of all true fruit for God. So it's a claim to being exclusively the one that men need. Men and women must trust in him in these various aspects because it says, I am this, and there is no other. Now, God himself is the one who claims that kind of exclusiveness. When we talk about God being exclusive in this sense, we mean that he's superior to everyone else. Obviously, that's true of God, but everyone else with which he might be compared. Men who raise up their own names and build up their own glory, they might claim to be very, very important, but God is over all. He's the God who holds those men's breath in his hand, and so God is the one who's superior to all else. For example, Moses appealed in this way. Did any other people ever know or hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard? To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord himself is God. There is none other beside him. He's exclusive. You must have him or you have nothing. Solomon proclaimed that all the people of the earth might know that the Lord is God. There is no other. Isaiah uh eight times says, I am God, on behalf of the Lord, of course, Isaiah speaking, I am God, and there is no one else. And Israel is told, you, Israel, are my witnesses. I am the Lord, and beside me there is no savior. So these are exclusive claims made by God himself in the Old Testament. Our Lord Jesus, without any embarrassment and without any arrogance, says, I am, which is what really belongs to the Lord, that title I am. And he says not I am a vine, I am a bread, I am a this, but I am the that. I'm the only one. And he's standing there as a man on earth as he says it. So he's sharing that glory with the Father. He's the only savior that we can have. So we realize at once that this must be the Word become flesh dwelling among us. We beholding his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So that's our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with what or with whom might this true vine be compared? And why does he say true vine? It wasn't because Israel was a false vine. She had been called to be a vine by Jehovah in the Old Testament. She was not a false vine. She had a, a right to be regarded as the vine that Israel, that God had planted in Old Testament times. She had a right to that claim. But the Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine, because Israel was only a shadow, only a small picture of what God really intended. What God required of men in the Old Testament was that they should be fruitful, and there was no fruit seen in Israel. There was only wild grapes, as we saw. We read from that passage in Isaiah, and we could have turned to Psalm eighty, we could have turned to Jeremiah two, we could have turned to Ezekiel, to Hosea, to Joel and Zechariah. In each case, Israel is likened to a vine. So I'm not pressing something when I say that the vine in Old Testament times was Israel. So when the Lord would speak and say, I'm the true vine, they would immediately sit up and listen because they would say, well, that title belongs to Israel. She is the vine that Jehovah planted, and the prophets unanimously bear testimony to that fact. But here the Lord Jesus stands up and he says, I am the true vine. Apart from me, you can bear no fruit. In other words, it's not your relationship to the nation of Israel that's going to guarantee that God gets fruit, the fruit that he desires. It's not by reason of your attachment to that nation, your being born a Jew, that will enable you to bear fruit to God. What will enable you to bear fruit to God is your relationship to me. That's very, very important, isn't it? It's a very important principle. How do we apply that today? Well, there are people today who think that their attachment to a good church, an evangelical church, or a brethren assembly, and they say, I'm all right because I'm with that group. The Lord Jesus makes it very clear it's not being with a group, or being born, or coming into a certain fellowship that's going to guarantee that you bear fruit. It's your relationship to the Lord Jesus. That's very searching, isn't it? Because I think we are all very thankful to be associated with what are called brethren assemblies. We're thankful we found our way there. I know I am. I remember the time when I, I said to someone who said to me, well, you know, you'll find lots of problems in the assemblies. I said, well, that's maybe so, but I can't see anything else from scripture. Oh, he said, you'll be all right then. So I'm here by conviction, associated with assemblies, and so I'm not knocking them. But it's not by association with assemblies that we can bear fruit. It's important to find the right fellowship and to be with it, but you can't bear fruit just simply because you belong to the right church. It's your relationship personally to the Lord Jesus. Now that's very searching, isn't it? Because, you see, you could be here in the right place at the right times doing the right thing, and your relationship to the Lord is very weak, not what it should be. Apart from me, not apart from your association with any particular group, whether it's Israel or a church or a company of real believers, it's your association with me. I am the true vine. Every branch in me, in that sense, will bear fruit. He says that. So, uh, Israel had proved unfaithful. She was unable to fulfill her calling. So, what is meant by fruit? We need to think about that. Well, literally, of course, we think of fruit and we immediately think of, uh, apples or oranges or something of that kind. But it refers to whatever springs up from a planting in the scriptures. It doesn't refer just to what we would consider fruit, but anything that results from a planting, including grain. In Matthew thirteen it's used of a crop of grain, and it's called fruit. So it's fruit in that sense. It's what comes naturally from a plant that has that nature, that bears that kind of response. It's the normal outcome of the form of life that's contained in any particular seed. That's its fruit is what it produces. So it suggests really an expected, an expected, because when you plant, uh, certain grain, oats or wheat, you expect to receive from that grain, you expect to receive similar type of harvest of oat or wheat or whatever it may be. So it suggests something that's expected to come, and it's the spontaneous outcome of a natural process. It has the life of that grain, whatever it may be, it has that life within the seed, and so it will produce after its kind. We need to think about that when we think of fruit. The Lord speaks too about the fruit of the earth, the outcome of what is happening in the earth. He talks about the fruit of the womb, what is naturally expected when a woman is carrying a child. He talks about the fruit of one's actions in Romans chapter six. So using the term fruit to express what naturally comes from a person. It isn't forced, it isn't mechanical, it's part of the life that it possesses. And the Lord Jesus, Jesus says, I am the true vine, and we need to be in relationship with him. Now, what would the disciples at that time understand from the Lord's teaching when he said, I am the true vine? How would they relate to that? Well, we've already seen that in the Old Testament, it's clearly identified as being Israel, the nation. They were called to bear fruit. Now the Lord Jesus is saying, I want you to transfer your hopes, your expectations from Israel as the nation to me. And I'm the only one. I am the true vine. There are not a number of vines, and you can take your pick. I am the true vine, and if you're going to bear fruit for the Lord's glory, if you're going to produce that which is the response that he's looking for, that which will satisfy him, if you're thinking in terms of doing that and of being a good Israelite, because remember, we're not talking about distinct Christians here, we're not talking about people who are in the church yet. We're talking about people who belong to Israel. And he says, though you belong to Israel, you've got to transfer your hopes from Israel the nation to myself. I am the true vine. So many godly Israelites would still cling to the hope for Israel to fulfill her original calling. Now, actually, that will come about in a day yet to come. Israel again will send forth its roots, the prophet tells us, send forth its roots downward and bear fruit upward. That's the destiny of Israel in a time yet to come, but that will only be possible because she will be back in relationship to her Messiah. She'll be back in relationship to the Lord Jesus because he is the source of all fruit bearing. He's the vine, and you must be in relationship with him. So how did the Lord refocus their expect- expectations? Well, he says that association with him is the revealed way to bear fruit to God. Now, what does he mean by abide? Except you abide in the vine. You can't bear fruit of yourself. Why must we abide in the vine? What was he meaning by that? Well, he is the vine, and he's saying not that you must go or become something that you were not before, but you must stay where you are. And it's very, very important to see that, for the word abide has taken on a meaning among many evangelicals to express a kind of, what shall I say, almost a second blessing. Uh, you become a Christian, but then you learn to abide, as though this is one level here, and then up here is the abiding one. They're both Christians, you understand, according to this reckoning. This is a, a, a Christian who's not abiding, whatever that is, but this one is abiding. And you know, if only you can abide, then you will bear fruit. I remember when I used to read devotional books on this subject about abiding in Christ, I came to the conclusion that I was never going to make it. But you see, the Lord is saying to those disciples, and you remember what a failing bunch they were. Think of Peter, for example, poor Peter, we always pick on him, but he's an outstanding example of somebody who had great expectations of himself, great desires to be what the Lord wanted him to be, saying, for example, though all deny you, I will not do that, and uh, assuring the Lord that he wouldn't. And yet, of course, he broke down so miserably. So we take Peter as an example, and we see that, that apart from the Lord's grace, you can't really live the way you should. And Peter was thinking that by really determining in his heart he was going to be a different type of person. That's the way we usually think, isn't it, of improving our situation in this world, uh, during our, uh, experience at school. We might say, well, I've been a poor student up to now. I'm really going to pull up my socks. I'm going to do better. That's the only way we know to improve a situation. That's not the way the Lord deals with it here, as we see. He's saying to them, abide. He's saying, just stay where you are. The word rebide, abide is translated elsewhere, remain or stay. That's how it is treated. It's not treated. It's not something that I, I can attain after I've become a Christian for a while, then I learn to abide. Abiding is just staying where God has put me. It took years for dear Hudson Taylor to discover that. He struggled for years, even in his great missionary work, and he had been to China for, I think, at least one of his trips to China, and on his later trips he, he struggled with this truth. He could not abide. He tried to abide. Well, it's because you're trying to get somewhere or be something that you're not now. The Lord says, stay right the way you are, where you are, stay, because if you move, there's nothing else. I'm the one you must be attached to. I'm the one you must be with. Abide in me. Of course, you know, it's easy to look back as Christians now on that command of the Lord Jesus and think, well, you know, how do I do this? How do I attain this level? But that's not the way we should think. It's simply to stay where we are, to recognize the place that we've been put into, and to appreciate the Lord's grace. Now, these instructions that the Lord gave at the time had a special significance for those Jews who heard him. You see, they had a tentative relationship with him on earth. He was there, they could see him, they could be with him. He was going to go away, he was going to leave them. He was going to go to the cross, and then later up into glory. And so he says, in this interim time, in this time in between, you must stay, you must abide. As we know, Judas didn't do that, and he was cast forth as a branch, and men gathered them, and they burned. And we read about that in, in John chapter fifteen. But today, true believers are united to the Lord Jesus by different means. It's not a matter of responsibility to stay in the vine. You are united to Christ. It's something that God does with those who believe on the Lord Jesus. You're united to him who is raised from the dead, that you might bring forth fruit unto God. So our relationship with the Lord Jesus is not exactly as the vine today, but it's rather in union with him who has been raised from the dead, we're united to him that we may bring forth fruit to God. So the true Christian is one who has a present, ongoing, meaningful, personal relationship with Christ. He doesn't think of himself as being in the right position because he's in the right place with the right people, but because of his right relationship to the Lord Jesus. That's something that we should all be very careful to care for, isn't it? We should be very concerned about our, our relationship to the Lord. That's the thing we should be concerned about. Then, of course, our relationship with others will be harmonious and a blessing, because it's in association with him that we become fruitful. Well, we could say more, but I'll just ramble on with a lot of words, and, uh, I don't want to do that. I wonder if there are any questions that you would like to address to me, and, uh, if I haven't made something clear or something is a little confusing, that sometimes happens, believe it or not, when I'm speaking. So, uh, if you have any questions or comments, uh, I'd be pleased to hear from you. There's a couple of minutes left... or more. Yes. Well, you know, it- sorry, go ahead. I guess you said, you said Judas earlier. Well, Judas didn't abide, did he? The Lord told him to stay, and Judas didn't do that. He denied the Lord and so severed himself from the Lord. And so, uh, whether he fits into the, the category of those who are burned or not, I'm not going to. I, I sort of hesitate here, and I have to confess my ignorance, but I hesitate here to say that we should take the figure and apply every detail exactly. In other words, does the fire mean hell? We might do that, but I think that's making the, the, uh, the metaphor walk on all fours. It's a, it's a mistake to do that. I think that what he's saying is, you know how useless, uh, a branch is if it's severed from its mother trunk. It becomes useless. And you know what happens to such people, those branches are burned. I don't think he's trying to make a point of judgment here in the sense of receiving punishment, but he's simply saying that you know how, uh, useless such branches are. All they're good for is sustaining a fire. I don't know whether you agree with me on that, but I don't think the Lord is teaching about hell here. I would agree, I would agree with that. Yes. Well, that's all I think I can say tonight on that subject, so let us just close in a word of prayer, shall we? Our Father, we all thank you for the Lord Jesus. We thank you for the fact that he is absolutely indispensable, that we cannot do without him, that our relationship to others, precious though it may be, is important and vital to our growth and development, in a sense, yet ultimately it's our relationship to the Lord Jesus himself. And we pray that you would help us to realize that, and to keep in close fellowship with him and to walk with him day by day. We commend this assembly to you. We thank you for it. Thank you for the love that exists among us, and for the joy of serving together. And we ask your blessing upon us as we separate now in our Savior's name.