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in your Bibles to the Gospel 
of John, John chapter 15. John 15, our focus will be verses 
3 to 8, but I'll read from verse 1 to verse 8. Remember, we're in the Upper 
Room Discourse, the Passion Week of our Lord Jesus Christ, where 
He encourages and seeks to strengthen His disciples. So after His departure 
on high, they will be equipped by the Spirit. They'll know the 
peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. and they are 
called upon to engage in greater works, not in competition with 
our Lord, but as an extension of his ministry at the right 
hand of the Father, where he must reign till all of his enemies 
are made his footstool. So the discourse is calculated 
to encourage them. It's calculated to stabilize 
them. It's calculated as well to instruct them. And one of 
the things that looms large is the nature of God, the fact that 
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Christian tradition, 
we call this the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus was certainly 
a Trinitarian, and Jesus, as the word of God, the second person 
of the Trinity, took on our humanity, dwelt among us, and we beheld 
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth. So beginning in John 15 at verse 
one, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. 
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. 
and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more 
fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have 
spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As 
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in 
the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 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. 
If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and 
is withered. And they gather them and throw 
them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me 
and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and 
it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified 
that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your Word. Thank you that the Spirit of 
God gave it to us. All Scripture is given by inspiration 
of God. We acknowledge its profitability 
in doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, 
that we may be thoroughly equipped unto every good work. We ask 
that you would again forgive us of all of our sins, guide 
us by the Spirit who illumines and who teaches and who directs 
us into all truth. May the Spirit who gave the word 
guide us now in our study of it. And we pray through Jesus 
Christ the Lord. Amen. Well, this is a brief section, 
but we've done a few sermons on it. First, with reference 
to verse 1a, where Jesus says, I am the true vine. Tried to 
show that this is indeed the fulfillment of Old Testament 
scriptures. Israel was likened to the vine. Israel was likened to God's vineyard. But of course, Israel in the 
Old Covenant, failed to carry out their task. So Jesus is the 
true vine in contrast to that particular Old Covenant people. The text is clear. There ought 
to be no thing called Zionism, whether political or ecclesiastical. The Israel of God today is the 
people of God, the children of God, those who by God's grace 
believe the gospel. Paul makes that evidently clear 
in Galatians 3, 26 to 29. Who are the sons of Abraham? 
Paul writing to a Gentile church, it is those who believe in Jesus 
Christ the Lord. At the end of Galatians in chapter 
6, he pronounces peace upon the Israel of God. So it's not a 
geopolitical entity that is the ultimate target of God's promises. It is rather the target of God's 
promises, or rather the fulfillment. All the promises of God are yea 
and amen in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His church by virtue of 
their union with Him. We also noted in verse 2 the 
branches. There has been a recent strand of paedo-baptist thought 
that takes John 15-2 and Romans chapter 11 and tries to make 
a third category in the New Covenant. But that's not what's happening. 
Jesus is talking about Old Covenant and New Covenant. He is not suggesting 
that you can be externally connected to the Lord Jesus via your paedo-baptism, 
but not genuinely be a Christian. That is to turn the passage on 
its head. So having hopefully disavowed the text of what it 
doesn't say, we can now pursue what it does say. So I explained 
it in two parts. First, the explanation of the 
metaphor, the true vine, verses 1 to 4. And then secondly, the 
exhortation to the disciples in verses 5 to 8. So let's pick 
up first at the explanation of the metaphor in verses one to 
four. So two weeks ago, we considered the identification of the parties. 
In verse one, Jesus as the true vine, the fulfillment of old 
covenant Israel is the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. 
just like the father was in Isaiah the prophet, chapter five, verses 
one to seven, when he comes to old covenant Israel to see if 
they've been fruitful. As Jesus rehearses in Matthew 
21, when he gives that sort of redemptive history of old covenant 
Israel, he uses the same analogy, the vineyard and they have not 
been fruitful. And as a result, the father is 
going to cut them off. They themselves understand the 
interpretation that he provides them in Matthew chapter 21. So 
the parties, true vine, Jesus, the son of God, father is the 
vine dresser. And then in verse two, every 
branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every 
branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 
Again, not covenantally pedobaptist categories, but those in the 
old covenant, the ones to whom he came, his own, they did not 
receive him. They were dead weight. They were 
dead branches. They'll be cut off. The life 
of the vine gives that necessary sap to the branches that are 
united to him by faith alone. Those are the branches. It's 
the people of God, the church of God, the Israel of God, whatever 
you want to call it specifically. But then notice he describes 
the branches, this is new now, in verses three to four. He speaks 
of the fact of regeneration and justification, and then the subsequent 
reality of sanctification. Now, if you're new to theology, 
I know that's probably a mouthful, but when we talk about theology 
and how does God save sinners, well, regeneration. That simply 
means that God, with reference to the dead sinner, regenerates 
them. He makes them born again. He 
makes them alive. He makes them new. The idea being 
is that dead sinners have no ability to reach out to the living 
God. The dead sinner stands in absolute 
dependence upon the living God if that dead sinner is going 
to know life and light eternal in the presence of our blessed 
Father. So, regeneration and then justification. So when God awakens or regenerates 
or causes one to be born again, God gives the graces of faith 
and repentance. Faith receives the promises of 
God. Faith is the instrument that 
draws us into union with our Lord Jesus Christ. We're saved 
by grace through faith. And that, not of ourselves, but 
it is the gift of God, as Paul says in Ephesians 2 and verse 
8. So then after regeneration and 
justification, what happens? Well, we're adopted as sons and 
daughters of the living God. And as adopted sons and daughters 
of the living God, what then happens? We're supposed to live 
in a manner that is consistent with our status as the adopted 
sons and daughters of God. In other words, we're supposed 
to walk in love. We're supposed to walk in light. 
We're supposed to walk in wisdom. Jesus previously in the discourse 
in 1415 says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. 
This is not, keep my commandments so that you may be saved. No, 
you love me because you've been justified freely by my grace, 
and as a result of that, you're going to keep my commandments. 
We need to keep our theology proper in our head so that we 
don't make mistakes with reference to what our Lord is teaching. 
So note first the fact of regeneration and justification. Verse 3, he's 
talking about the branches in verse 2, specifically the branch 
that bears fruit, verse 2b, he prunes that it may bear more 
fruit. Verse 3, you are already clean 
because of the word which I have spoken to you. Notice, he doesn't 
say you are already clean because of the grit and determination 
that you have shown. The grit and determination to 
put off sin and to follow righteousness. No, that's not what he says. 
In fact, he says something very similar in 1310 prior in this 
upper room discourse. Notice in verse 10, at chapter 
13, Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash 
his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all 
of you. They're clean by the grace of 
God, through the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit, but not all 
of you. Judas, the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, Judas, the one 
that is going to sell Jesus into the hands of his enemies for 
30 pieces of silver. We see regeneration or being 
born again taught by Jesus to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Remember when Nicodemus comes 
to him by night? He's not coming there because 
he's embarrassed by the Sanhedrin. He's coming there by virtue of 
his place in the Sanhedrin. They sent him to sort of vet 
Jesus. Figure out what kind of a man 
that he was. And as soon as Jesus has any interaction with him, 
he says, unless a man is born again, he shall not see the kingdom 
of God. So he lays down the gauntlet. 
He basically says, man is dead in their sin. Man has no ability 
to reach out to God. It must be God from above that 
comes down to save his people from their sins. So regeneration 
is absolutely crucial. And that's what Jesus highlights 
here. in 15.3, you are already clean. And then notice the instrumentality 
of God's truth or God's gospel because of the word which I have 
spoken to you. This indicates justification 
by faith alone. You're not already clean because 
of your good works. You're not already clean because 
of your resolve to do better, but you're clean regenerated 
by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you've believed the 
word of the living and true God. He's talking to his disciples. 
He's talking to fruit bearers. He is talking to those branches 
that the Father either graciously with the bonnet and the nippers 
kind of gets away the dead growth or with a chainsaw and the afflictions 
and the heartaches and the trials comes to pair off those dead 
branches or those things that would stop the sap flow into 
the branches. The Father prunes believers. 
The Father is for His people. The Father chastens us, as is 
good for us. The Apostle uses this argument 
in Hebrews chapter 12. How many of you had earthly fathers 
that disciplined you for a time? They did the best that they could. 
Did they make mistakes? Sure they did. But their end 
game, their intention was for your good. It's your father when 
he chastens you, your father when he disciplines you, the 
various afflictions and trials that you undergo in this present 
evil age. The fact that as the prophet describes it, we live 
in a veil of tears, that indicates that the father's at work in 
our lives. And so Jesus speaks concerning regeneration. He speaks 
concerning the reality of justification by faith alone, just here in 
verse three. You are already clean because 
of the word which I have spoken to you. And then note the subsequent 
reality of sanctification in verse four. You've been born 
again. By grace, you believed in Jesus. 
When you believed in Jesus, your sins are forgiven. You're given 
the righteousness of Christ so that you can enter in to that 
holy tabernacle of the Most High. So in time now, we've been regenerate, 
we're born again, we're justified freely by His grace, we're adopted 
sons and daughters to the Most High. Now what? Well, that's 
verse 4. He says, abide in me and I in 
you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides 
in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. Now, 
I'm not a botanist, but I know this much, that when you pull 
a plant out of the ground, you've got problems. When you break 
branches off of the main stem, is that the proper language here? 
You've got problems. You've got to have that connection 
for the interplay or the conveyance of that sap to the branch. So what is Jesus saying? As God's 
born-again children, adopted into his family, justified freely 
by his grace, actually justified and adopted into his family, 
what now? You need to abide in Jesus. You 
want to live the Christian life, not so that you may be saved, 
but because by God's grace you have been saved. That's the focal 
point in this particular section, with a specific reference to 
these apostles that are tasked to go out and to do greater works. And that means to go out and 
make disciples, to plant churches, and to extend the kingdom of 
God Most High, visibly represented through the church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, to the uttermost parts of the earth. Christ is 
preparing His disciples for mission. Christ is preparing His disciples 
for ministry. And what does Christ say is absolutely 
crucial for mission and ministry? It is connection to Christ. It 
isn't simply this, that, or the other. It is a vital union with 
our Lord Jesus, being born again, believing the gospel, having 
that good confession of faith. That's what is absolutely crucial. 
So when we look at a passage like this, there's a few things 
that I think we glean. He says, abide in me and I in 
you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides 
in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I would suggest first that sanctification, 
your life of holiness, your pursuit of those things which are God-glorifying 
and God-honoring, is grounded in justification. In other words, 
it's a gospel sanctification. If you notice in Romans 6, Well, 
something Paul does in Romans 3, 6, and 9 is he asks questions 
as he's writing. I wonder why he asked questions 
when he was writing. Probably because when he was 
preaching and he walked to the back of a synagogue, there was 
a whole host of questions for him. So he thought, well, I'm 
going to go ahead and incorporate those nuggets when I write Romans, 
because probably lots of other people have those questions. 
Romans 9, for instance, when he's dealing with sovereignty 
and predestination, the absolute glory of God Almighty, he says, 
what shall we say then? Shall we say that there is unrighteousness 
in God? May it never be! But in Romans 
6, after having discoursed on justification by faith alone, 
what do you think might have been a response in the back of 
a Jewish synagogue? Paul says, in a Jewish synagogue, 
the way of salvation, the way of acceptance with Yahweh, is 
to believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What do you 
think their response would be? What about Torah? What about 
mitzvot? What about the law? What about 
obedience? What about all the things that 
Yahweh has commanded in the Old Covenant? So in Romans 6.1, Paul 
says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? He probably heard that. Justification 
by faith alone elicits the devil's logic, which is simple. Well, 
if you're justified by faith alone, then it really doesn't 
matter how you live. So Paul probably heard that. So what 
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. Later in the chapter, he's 
gonna say, no longer present your members as instruments of 
unrighteousness. In other words, practical sanctification. Don't look at porn. Don't smoke 
that whatever. Don't drink that whatever. You've 
got to resist those temptations and tendencies. But before he 
gets to the do-nots, the imperatives in terms of sanctification, he 
first starts with a remembrance of justification. You were dead 
and you've been buried and you've been raised again with our Lord 
Jesus Christ. In other words, sanctification 
is dependent upon a proper understanding of justification. If you think 
in the life of holiness you're earning favor with God, you've 
got a wrong approach. Sanctification is the consequence 
of God's having justified us freely by His grace and receiving 
us into His favor. It's not mercenary, I've got 
to do this or I'm going to be cut off. No, it's grace, it's 
mercy, it's kindness, it's goodness. In other words, the motivation 
in terms of sanctification is not that sort of reward of salvation, 
but it's the recognition that we've already been saved. And 
we want to please our Heavenly Father, and we want conformity 
to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. So don't miss that. Sanctification 
is necessarily grounded in justification by faith alone. I would suggest, 
secondly, that it is by virtue of union with Christ. In other 
words, you don't... There is a sense, brethren, this 
question comes up in theology. We talk about salvation, justification 
specifically is what's called monergistic. That means one working. 
God is mono in terms of his salvation of sinners. Sanctification, we 
know that God is at work in us, Philippians 2.13, both to will 
and to do according to his good pleasure. But God doesn't not 
look at porn for us. God does not not drink those 
things for us. God does not engage in, you know, 
white collar crime for us. There is a sense where we have 
to do those things, right? You got a problem and you don't 
get up on time, it's not a bad thing to move your clock onto 
the other side of the room. That's a good help. God's not 
going to magically cause you to arise at the moment that you're 
supposed to. So when it comes to sanctification, 
God is over it. God is at work, both to will 
and to do according to His good pleasure. But we have to cut 
off the offending members. We have to pursue the things 
that are good. And Jesus says it must be in 
union with Him. In other words, there's no sanctification 
apart from Jesus Christ. It's not on the other side that 
just discipline and a formal life and stoic approach to things, 
that's sanctification. I would imagine, and I don't 
want to offend anybody here unnecessarily, but there's probably far more 
disciplined people out in the world than some of God's believers. You ever see Navy Buds training 
and SEAL training? Those guys are hardcore, right? 
I'm sure they don't struggle at getting up at O-Dark 30. Oh, 
well, you know, it's just the remaining sin. They just do what 
they're supposed to do. Discipline and order and structure 
and the putting off and the putting on sort of a issue or situation 
and sanctification, those are realities, but not devoid of 
union with Christ. You have to abide in me, is what 
he says. And then I would suggest thirdly, 
with reference to sanctification practically, it is dependent 
upon ultimately the person of Christ. Notice what he says, 
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in 
the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. He's telling 
them at the outset. You've been born again. You've 
been justified freely by grace. You've been adopted as sons into 
the very family of God Almighty. And in terms of your life, and 
ministry, and mission, and conduct, and wives, and children, and 
society, and civil polity, and grocery stores, and everything, 
if you want to be holy and you want to be like Jesus, you have 
to live in dependence upon Jesus. You have to abide in Him. So 
yes, the discipline. Yes, the self-control. Which 
self-control, by the way, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. All 
those things are necessary, but not devoid of the Savior. We 
have to find that balance. We have to be in Christ, abiding 
in Him, and then putting off the deeds of the body to make 
no provision for the lust of the flesh. And so that we may 
pursue those things which are pleasing in the sight of a holy 
God. I guess in summary, everything we do, everything we have, everything 
we are as God's people is by virtue of our union with Jesus. 
So let's not forget that in the life of sanctification. Let's 
not forget that when it comes to being who God calls us to 
be as adopted sons and daughters. So that's kind of the explanation 
of the metaphor that he uses there in verses 1 to 4. That 
brings us then to the exhortation to the disciples in verses 5 
to 8. gives a metaphor, explains who's 
involved, the function of the vine dresser, description of 
the branches, and now he comes real practically to these disciples 
to give them an exhortation. And I think he does three things 
here. First, we see the power of Christ in verse 5, then the 
promise of Christ in verses 6 and 7, and then the purpose of Christ 
in verse 8. Notice first the power of Christ 
in verse 5. I am the vine. You are the branches. He reiterates that when he comes 
to exhort them and encourage them on how to live. You can't 
forget this. I'm the vine. You're the branches. The rest of the New Testament 
does something similar. The apostle uses the head and 
the body metaphor. Jesus is the head of the church, 
which is his body. What does that suggest? It suggests 
dependence. It suggests abiding. It suggests 
proximity. It suggests union and closeness 
to the Savior. When Paul comes to deal with 
marriage in Ephesians chapter 5, he uses the analogy of Jesus 
and the church. So the way that husband and wife 
relate, in fact, in a husband and wife relationship, what happens 
to them? The two become one flesh. So Jesus is laying down this 
metaphor, bringing it to them specifically in a practical way, 
and wanting to remind them, I am the vine, you are the branches. Notice he then goes on to say, 
he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without 
me you can do nothing. So Jesus says, I am the vine, 
you are the branches. Because of that arrangement, 
because of that virtue, or that union rather, but because all 
that obtains, you have the potential. Not, you know, Johnny at two 
to be the president. That's not the potential I'm 
talking about. You can be whatever you want, Johnny. Not if he's 
a moron. He can't. I'm sorry. The potential 
is there because of Christ's life, death, resurrection, because 
of God's grace coming upon needy sinners, such that we've been 
born again, such that we believe the gospel, such that we are 
now new men and new women in Christ Jesus, belonging to the 
very family of God himself, called upon to follow the Savior wherever 
he bids us. The potential is there. I would 
argue that this particular passage is going to probably bother us 
if we're living in known sin. This passage is going to bother 
us if we're not actively pursuing those things that are pleasing 
to Jesus Christ. This passage is going to probably bother us 
if we become lazy in our approach to sanctification. Just want 
to get all that out on the table right now, because what Jesus 
says is that we have the potential to do great things. And again, 
not astronauts, not being a cowboy at the county fair, but rather 
to do the greater works in the context. And I would argue specifically 
it's the apostles. The apostles' greater works are 
going to be obvious in the book of Acts when some of them engage 
in miracles. All of them engage in preaching. 
All of them see conversions, and church planting, and disciple 
making, and all that sort of thing. But by extension, for 
the people and children of God, the Lord Jesus Christ says that 
we are the branches related to the vine. And because of that 
sap flow, or that conveyance of that sap to us, we have the 
strength and the ability to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. to 
make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, pursue 
peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one will see 
the Lord." Hebrews 12, 14. How do we imbibe that? How do 
we accept that? How do we appropriate that? By 
virtue of our union with Jesus Christ. It's not by virtue of 
our good decision-making or our lawfulness or our merit-seeking 
ability. So Jesus speaks of his presence 
and power here specifically in verse 5. 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. Again, 
that does lay upon us that reality of dependence. And notice, without 
me you can do nothing. That doesn't mean you can't get 
out of bed and brush your teeth. Greater works, gotta think of 
the greater works in 1412. These men are called to go and 
turn the world upside down for Jesus. with reference to an extension 
in terms of application to us, living the Christian life, being 
faithful before God. See, we're all saved, those who 
are, by grace as individuals, but we maintain various relationships 
in life. Most, not all, and this is not 
to denigrate the not all, most are married. We have a relationship 
between husband and wife. Most have children. We have a 
fair relationship between parent and child. Most of us work. We have a relationship between 
an earthly employer and ourselves. Most of us, well, all of us are 
in a civil polity. We have a relationship to the 
civil state. Well, how do we navigate that? 
How do we engage in those various things? As the blood-bought children 
of God, those who now are the family of God, are we supposed 
to live just like everybody else? No. We're supposed to be Christians 
in the midst of a godless generation. We're supposed to love our wives 
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Wives are 
to submit to their own husbands as to the Lord in everything. 
The parent-child relationship is one of authority, one of discipline, 
one of correction, one of reproof. Oh, horrors, pastor, you can't 
say that, it'll take your kids away. I'm not saying announce 
it on Facebook that you corrected your child, but I am suggesting 
that, not suggesting, saying that Solomon speaks to this very 
frequently in the book of Proverbs, as does the apostle Paul. Fathers, 
do not exasperate your children. But bring them up in the training 
and the admonition of the Lord. The two terms used mean act and 
word. What do you think act means? 
You just keep doing that and I'm going to just keep waving 
my finger. No, that's not it. We have relationships. How do 
we engage those relationships? But by virtue of our union with 
the Savior. If the sap isn't conveyed, if 
the sap isn't flowing to the branch, the branch is gonna be 
a pretty lousy individual, husband, wife, father, whatever the rest 
of the relations are. You get the point. This is what 
Jesus is saying. I am present with you. Every 
justified by faith in Jesus person has Jesus. Isn't that great? We have him. He has us. He comes 
to us in the language of 1418 by the spirit, the helper, the 
another comforter that he sends to us. And so here in five, at 
chapter 15, I am the vine, you are the branches. He abides in 
me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. 
Without me in the context, without me in terms of spiritual life. 
There's a lot of without-me people out there that do brush their 
teeth. They do hold down good jobs. They complete Navy Buds 
training. They engage in those sorts of things. Obviously, the 
context is regulating here. Just like when Paul says in Philippians 
4, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That 
doesn't mean you're going to beat Michael Jordan on the basketball 
court. That's what we do to techs. We 
throw them on the torture rack and we make them say things they 
were never intended to say. I can do all things through Christ 
who strengthened me. That means I'm going to own a 
Fortune 500 company. That's not what it means. It 
means that in Christ, as branch connected to the vine, you have 
all the resources, all of the ability, the presence and the 
power of the Holy Spirit conveyed in that Holy sap so that you 
can live the way that God has called you to live. So there's 
no excuse. Well, you just don't know my 
situation. You just don't know how difficult it is. You just, 
no, I know that in Christ, we have all the resources, everything 
that a needy redeemed sinner has to have Christ is there with 
open arms, giving us sap. So verse five, power. Notice 
verses six and seven, he makes two promises. First, the promise 
of judgment, and then secondly, the promise of answered prayer. 
Notice in verse six, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast 
out as a branch and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. 
Again, brethren, to see covenantal pedobaptist in this text is to 
import it from your theology book and put it there. This, 
Romans 11, is not talking about a third class in terms of covenant 
or a second class within new covenant. It's not just an internal 
and external new covenant. The old covenant functioned that 
way. In the old covenant, you had everybody connected to Yahweh 
through circumcision and Torah and all those things. But within 
that old covenant, you had actual believers in Jesus Christ. But 
through the announcement of the prophet Jeremiah, essential features 
of the New Covenant are that you know the Lord, that you've 
been forgiven of your sins, that you have the law written on your 
heart. He's not creating an additional category. He's talking about 
Old Covenant Israel and its specific application. The old vine rejected 
the true vine, hence they are dead branches and they are going 
to be decimated when the Roman army surround Jerusalem in AD 
70 and bring the judgment of God to bear upon them. So the 
branches that are dead, that are cut off and thrown into the 
fire, it isn't some extra class in the New Covenant that were 
paedo-baptized but didn't fulfill their covenantal obligations. 
Covenantal obligations, in terms of New Covenant, are all laid 
upon Jesus. He is the yea and amen of God. He lived, He died, He was raised 
again, such that all those who look to Him in faith will have 
everlasting life. Now, when it comes to this passage, 
though, He is threatening judgment. And a pretty vicious and, you 
know, What can I say? Metaphorically sensitive judgment 
here. But what happens when you pull 
those branches out of the ground or off the vine that aren't productive? They aren't fruitful. Well, presently 
in our garage, we have those big Home Depot bags and we put 
them in there. That's not too scary. But I would 
imagine they'll eventually end up in a fire somewhere. Jesus 
is speaking in terms of the metaphor. I'm the true vine, you're the 
branches. The branches that are Old Covenant, 
I would argue in this context, that are the people of God and 
yet have no faith in Messiah, those are going to be cut off. 
Those branches are then going to be thrown into the fire. So 
what Jesus is talking about here, I think at least it's consistent 
with his prophecy on all of it in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 
21. And what John records in detail 
in what we call the book of Revelation. Old Covenant Israel, those who 
rejected and resisted the Messiah, who have all but become dead 
branches, are fit for nothing other than to be cut off, hacked 
away, and thrown into the fire. Jesus makes that promise. And 
again, working with the metaphor that he's already conveyed to 
us. But notice this promise of answered prayer. Verse 7, if 
you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what 
you desire and it shall be done for you. And again, I want to 
make sure the asking what I desire is regulated or controlled by 
the context. You know, I asked God for a million 
dollars and he didn't answer. He didn't like me. He may not 
like you, but that's not the way you arrive at that particular 
conclusion. Isn't that how we pray sometimes? Isn't that how we live sometimes? 
I asked the Lord for something and he hasn't granted it unto 
me. There's two problematic assumptions there. First, that God's on our 
timeframe versus us on his timeframe. And two, that no isn't a sufficiently 
good answer to prayer. Maybe God doesn't think you should 
have a million dollars, because he knows you better than, I realize 
a million anymore. When I was a kid, a million dollars, 
that's with inflation. Millions kind of chump change. 
So I've not adjusted my figures over the years. I'll be 60 and 
still saying a million. By then it'll be, you know, that's 
what you'll need to buy a loaf of bread probably. But at this 
point, this is what Jesus is saying. He's talking about answered 
prayer, in a context. Look at 1412 again. Most assuredly, 
I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he 
will do also. And greater works than these he will do because 
I go to my father. Verse 13, and whatever you ask 
in my name, be odd if he's thinking Lamborghinis or summer homes, 
or he's thinking private jets. I want you to do these greater 
works. I want you to do them in my name. So verse 13, and 
whatever you ask in my name, is connected to the greater works 
that they're supposed to do in his name. So in whatever you 
ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified 
in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, 
I will do it. Same emphasis here in the whole 
metaphor concerning the vine, the vine dresser and the branches. 
So in verse seven of chapter 15, if you abide in me, which 
we've already established, and my words abide in you. Another 
argument for justification by faith alone. The word of Christ, 
which is the revelation of the gospel of Christ, abides in us. Kind of a synonymous use. You 
believe the word of Christ, you have Christ abiding in you. It 
is the gospel that we desperately need by grace to believe such 
that we may be forgiven and receive that righteousness that avails 
with God. So if you abide in me and my words abide in you, 
and I think that as well helps control the context. If my word 
abides in you, Doesn't that seem to indicate that that will have 
some effect upon the things that we ask? I think so. If my words abide in you, then 
you've got the revelation of the mind of God, which should 
affect or impact the things that you ask for. Right? It's not a bad implication. If the Word of Christ dwells 
in our hearts, it's the Word of Christ that serves as the 
content for our prayers. It's the Word of Christ and the 
revelation of the mind of God that informs the whatever we 
ask in His name. It's not, well, you know, I'd 
like a bag of money. I'm not saying asking God for 
more money or promotion at work or a raise is a bad thing. Don't hear that, but don't assume 
that the whatever you ask in my names are connected to our 
temporal pleasure or our temporal comforts or our temporal stability. The primary emphasis in terms 
of New Covenant religion is to be faithful to our blessed Savior 
in whatever hardships or trials or afflictions that we have. 
Remember, Paul says, I know how to abound and I know how to be 
abased. Interesting. You look at the 
life of the Apostle Paul, you might conclude, man, what a miserable 
situation. But he says, I know how to abound. Everything wasn't always, you 
know, bad for the Apostle Paul. But what was the take-home lesson? 
I know how to abound. I know how to be abased. But 
in all things, I've learned what? Contentment. Contentedness. Brethren, I argue that all these 
passages that the Charismatics and the Pentecostals flip on 
their heads are, well, you could be whatever you want, be an astronaut, 
drive a Lamborghini, have summer homes all over the house, all 
over the world, because Jesus says, and whatever you ask in 
my name. That's probably not fair to the 
Charismatics and the Pentecostals, the word-faith movement, the 
word-faith branch of that particular movement, the health, wealth, 
prosperity gospel, which, interestingly, is not a gospel at all. So Jesus, 
when he says, whatever you ask, Conditioned, of course, by the 
word that you have. So if you abide in me and my 
words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall 
be done for you. I think this speaks as well to 
the desires of God's people. What ought to be our chief desire? 
Well, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. How do we best achieve 
that? By Lamborghinis? And I'm not 
picking on Lamborghinis. If you get one, get one. Get 
me right. But the bottom line is the glory of God comes through 
what? Conformity unto Jesus. So if we were to look into our 
own hearts and say, what is it that I desire? I think a good 
litmus test would be your prayer closet. If your prayer room could 
talk, what would it tell us? Not that I think we have a right 
to know that. I believe in an absolute right to privacy. You 
come here, you tell me things, privacy, unless you commit a 
crime. Then I call the cops. I'm not a Roman Catholic priest. 
But if your prayer room could talk, what would be the desires 
of the heart? Are they spiritual in nature? 
Are they God glorifying in their aim? Well, I guess indirectly, 
a Lamborghini would really free me up to serve God more. Okay, 
that's probably not where I'd go with that argument, but you 
get the point. We know the content through the written word that 
abides in us, that informs us concerning the will of God, which 
should shape and impact and affect how we pray to God. And as well, 
the desires of our heart ought not to be governed by the world. The desires of our heart ought 
not to be dictated or defined by the world. The desires of 
our heart ought to be dictated and governed by that word that 
abides in our hearts. So Jesus promises answered prayer. And then notice finally, as we 
close this section, he speaks of the purpose of Christ. Verse 
eight, twofold glory of God and the good of his disciples. Notice 
in verse eight, by this, this asking, according to my word, 
those things that you desire, understanding the fact that we 
have a union together, knowing that without me, you can do nothing, 
knowing that the larger sort of context is to go out and do 
great works for the Lord Jesus Christ, or by extension, to live 
the life that God has called us to in terms of the various 
relations that we sustain. He says, I want you to do this 
because in this, my Father's glorified. See, for Jesus, it's 
always theology first. When he teaches us to pray in 
Matthew chapter five, or Matthew chapter six, he doesn't start 
with our food, he doesn't start with our forgiveness, and he 
doesn't start with our protection. He ends up there, but he starts 
with his father's name, his father's kingdom, and his father's will. 
Right? Priority. When you look at the 
Ten Commandments, it regulates earthly conduct in terms of our 
relationship one to another in the 5th through the 10th Commandments. But where's the priority? Where does it begin? With God. Commandments 1 to 4. So Jesus 
wants our happiness. Jesus wants our stability. Jesus 
wants our security. Jesus wants everlasting blessedness 
for us. But remember, Jesus in the temporal 
mission is on a purpose and a plan to bring glory to his father. 
And that's what he says in verse eight. By this, my father is 
glorified that you bear much fruit. The Father is glorified 
in the Son, according to John 12, 28, and John 14, 13. We'll see it later in the High 
Priestly Prayer. But the Father is glorified in 
the Church when the Church is functioning according to Jesus. 
When we are regulated by His Word, when we are having desires 
that are in jive with His Word, when the church functions as 
church is specified to function, we have the guarantee that the 
Father is glorified in the midst of His congregation. Matthew 
Poole says it this way, and I think it's nice. He says, and look, 
as it tends to the honor of the husbandmen, that's the vine dresser, 
sort of the older King James language with reference to the 
vine dresser. My father is the vine dresser, 
15.1. So Poole says, and look, as it tends to the honor of the 
husbandmen, when the ground by him plowed and manured. I quite 
liked that. We're manured. We're being tended 
to. We're being utilized, being capitalized 
on. God wants fruitfulness. And sometimes 
it's snippers, and other times it's a chainsaw. So he says, 
so it tendeth to the honor and glory of God when the souls renewed, 
manured, and influenced by him bring forth much of the fruit 
of righteousness and holiness. By this, my father is glorified 
that you bear much fruit. Not a little bit of fruit, an 
apple here or there once a month, but bearing much fruit is the 
plan and purpose of the vine dresser relative to his vineyard. 
And then that last bit does not undo all of the theology I took 
some time to explain previous when he says, so you will be 
my disciples. I don't believe he's saying in 
order to be my disciples, you have to bear much fruit. He's 
already acknowledged regeneration. He's already acknowledged justification 
by faith. He's already assumed adoption 
in the family of God, and he's already acknowledged sanctification 
relative to our virtue or our union, virtue of union with him, 
or in virtue of our union with him. He's acknowledged all that. 
So it'd be very odd for him to say, go out and bear much fruit, 
and then you'll get to be my disciples. Now, I think the language 
suggests that if you do what I'm calling you to do, If you're 
living in the way that I'm telling you to live, that's what indicates 
that you are indeed my disciples. James picks up on this in James 
2, 14-26. He's not teaching justification 
by faith plus works. He's teaching justification by 
faith alone, which is demonstrated or declared or externalized in 
the lives of God's people. Where do you think James got 
that? He got it from Jesus. The branches bear fruit. Why? Because they're connected 
to the vine. So you will be my disciples when 
you live in the manner that is consistent with your calling 
as God's children through grace, through faith in Jesus. Well, 
in conclusion, just want to highlight the nature of the people of God. 
I'm going to do this quick. The people of God are branches 
of the vine by God's grace through faith in Jesus. Don't forget 
that. You're not seeking to earn that 
status as a branch through faith plus your works. You're not seeking 
to earn status as a branch connected to the vine through your labors 
or through your so-called righteousness. You're a branch connected to 
the vine by God's grace, revealed in the works of regeneration, 
justification, adoption, and then magnified or evidenced or 
declared in sanctification. The people of God are branches 
of the vine who abide in the vine. Let's not miss this. I know we dealt with some Zionism, 
I know we dealt with some paedo-baptism, but let's not take the focus 
off the main thing here. Jesus, in preparing his disciples 
in this upper room, is going to dispatch them into the known 
world. What's going to sustain that? 
The knowledge of the triune God. the reality of justification 
by faith alone. The fact that they're connected 
as branch to vine to the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that from 
that vine flows the life-giving sap or the life-sustaining sap 
that they'll need. Brethren, what is it that gets 
them through the prison cell? What is it that gets them through 
the lash? What is it that gets them through the martyrdom? It's 
not their strength. It's not their vitality. It's 
the strength of the vine. It's the sap that's been given 
to them. So Jesus is preparing these men 
for battle, for combat, for warfare. Not physical and literal, but 
metaphorical. He does want us to do what he 
calls us to do in a manner that is consistent with his revealed 
word. I would suggest the people of God are branches of the vine 
that are inextricably connected to the vine. The ones being cut 
off and thrown out, they don't bear fruit, they're dead. The 
old covenant Israel, the one to whom their Messiah came, but 
they received him not, they delivered him up and said, away with him, 
away with him, crucify him. I would suggest that the people 
of God are branches of the vine that are, note this, cared for 
by God. Cared for by God. I'm new to 
this botany thing. I've taken over the watering 
within the last two days. And I'm out there yesterday, 
I'm watering, and Rebecca's like, oh, that's a weed. Pull that 
out. Okay, I got that imagery. It's kind of helping with the 
sermon illustration and all that sort of thing. But do you notice 
what's happened? After two short sessions, I have a vested interest. I don't like them brown and wilting. 
I want them to be vibrant and beautiful. The vine dresser cares 
about you and I. Isn't that the prophet Isaiah 
in chapter 5? Yahweh comes to the vineyard to see if there's 
fruit. Isn't that what Jesus says in Matthew 21 when he rehearses 
the history of Israel? Oh, they'll respect my son. And 
when he sends his son to Old Covenant Israel, instead of receiving 
him and honoring him and glorifying him and believing in him, they 
kill him, they crucify him. The father has a vested interest 
in his church. If he's glorified in the son 
and he's glorified in the church, he has an interest in us. In 
fact, one commentator makes the observation, to cultivate something 
is to devote one's interest to it. Paul picks up the metaphor 
in 1 Corinthians 3. He says, I planted, Apollos watered, 
but God gave the increase. Means necessary, to be sure, 
watering and planting. But the increase comes from the 
one who has the vested interest in it. I would suggest as well 
the people of God are branches of the vine that are called to 
be fruitful by virtue of their abiding in the vine, bearing 
much fruit, doing what God calls us to do, being faithful men, 
being faithful husbands, being faithful fathers, grandfathers, 
being faithful workers, being faithful citizens of the body 
politic, and all that is pertinent to a woman, individually before 
God, wife to your husband, mother to your children. All of these 
things we do by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ. And 
I want to end by saying what we saw in Mark 2, that the Son 
of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Hopefully, if 
you've heard this, you'd say, wow, I want to be a branch connected 
to that vine. I want to know something of abiding 
in Jesus. I want to know something of answered 
prayer. I want to know something of the 
Word of God abiding in me. What's the pathway? to know that 
Jesus has authority to forgive sins, to know that Jesus in the 
gospel calls sinners to himself, such that when they believe on 
him, they're forgiven and they receive a righteousness that 
avails with God. And such being the case, once 
you are then connected to that vine, live in a manner that is 
consistent, bear much fruit by God's grace and for God's glory. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for our Lord Jesus and the wonderful 
I am statements, and this one in particular, I am the vine. 
I pray that you would bless and strengthen your people here, 
cause us to bear much fruit as well, Lord God. We pray that 
you would indeed bless those who are in their sins, that you 
would call them into life eternal to our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
we pray in his most blessed name. Amen. We'll stand and close by 
singing 570. 570. hallelujah The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine 
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance 
upon you and give you peace. Well, we'll be seated for a brief 
time of meditation. and then be dismissed.