TPC Connections

Sermon Notes

The 7 “I Am’s” of Jesus
Pt 6
“I Am the True Vine”

John 15:1-5 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 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. 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.”
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Here we have Jesus’s 6th ‘I AM’ statement in John’s gospel.

So far we’ve covered:

I AM the Bread of life
I AM the Light of the world
I AM the Door
I AM the Good Shepherd
I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life

And now Jesus says that he is The True Vine.

Remember that when Jesus uses the I AM designation followed by

‘the life giving Bread,’
‘the Light of the World,’
the ‘Good Shepherd’,
the ‘Door,’

He’s revealing something wonderful about who he is as God to us!

The seven I AM’s are not just facts, but promises regarding the various ways he would manifest his:
goodness,
faithfulness,
and provision!
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So first, Jesus reveals that He is:

The True Vine

Now, if there’s a True Vine, there must also be a False Vine!

“True” can be translated REAL, or AUTHENTIC.

JESUS is the original, the genuine article, the Messiah and Savior of God.

He’s the One who fulfills all of God’s promises and God’s prophecies,

And He’s the One, the only One who will take us to heaven to the Father’s house!
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The whole idea of the Vine is that He is the one that we, as the branches, are connected to.

And whatever is in the vine–whatever fruit it produces, good or bad–is exactly what we as the branches will produce.

You will always produce according to the Vine you’ve attached yourself to.

A vine can be a PERSON, a BELIEF system, a RELIGION, or a CULT.

This is why Jesus said,

Matt 7:15-18 “Be careful of false prophets. They come to you and look gentle like sheep. But they are really dangerous like wolves. 16 You will know these people by what they do. Good things don’t come from people who are bad, just as grapes don’t come from thorn bushes, and (apples) don’t come from weeds. 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.”

So who or what you’re listening to for guidance and instruction,
who your influencers are,
Who’s advice your taking for life and living,
These are the vines you as a branch are drawing from!

–If it is a good vine, you will produce good fruit!
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But if the vine is bad–be it,

worldly philosophies,
godless people,
carnal influencers, or
Social media personalities

That is exactly what you, too, as a branch connected to it will end up with–bad fruit!

Paul warned in Col 2:8 “Don’t let anyone capture you (take you hostage) with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”
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LISTEN: There is a daily, intense, relentless effort from the enemy of your soul, and those that do his bidding,
to capture your mind with beliefs and ideas that do not come from the Bible.

And if you embrace them, they will take you hostage!

So you want to be sure that, as a Christian,

you’re abiding in,
remaining in,
getting your instruction and counsel from–the TRUE VINE, Jesus Christ!
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SECOND, Jesus describes us as:

II. The branches

The thing about a branch is that it is totally dependent on the Vine to stay alive.

If it gets cut down or broken off, it will soon die.

The future of every branch depends on its ongoing attachment to the vine.

This is why Jesus said,

“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5…for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered…”John 15:4-6

The only future for a branch that breaks off from the vine is to wither and die.

So we as Christians must daily abide in the vine by:

prayer,
time in the word,
fellowship with the saints, and
obedience to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit!
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And FINALLY, Jesus says that:

III. God is the vinedresser

We are the BRANCHES
Jesus is the VINE
And God is the VINEDRESSER

So, here we see God the Father with OVERALLS on!

Our Heavenly Father is the one that prunes back the branches for greater fruitfulness.

He’s the vinedresser!

In real gardening, the vinedresser is the specialist responsible for the cultivation and health of the vine.

It requires a year-round commitment to the vineyard, focusing entirely on the fruit he’s after.

And part of his task is to PRUNE back the branches!

–PRUNING is when what is unwanted or unneeded for the health of the branch is cut away.

ILLUS: a freshly pruned tree can look very sad and bare!

The vinedresser will cut away dead or diseased branches to preserve the overall health of the tree.

But pruning promotes healthy growth and allows the tree to thrive!
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There are TWO BASIC TYPES OF BRANCHES the vinedresser will cut away.

The FIRST is a branch that is growing the wrong direction.

‘Wrong direction’ branches rub the other branches, causing disease and also blocking the sunlight the vine needs to grow.
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The OTHER TYPE of branch the vinedresser prunes away is called a “sucker” branch because it draws all of the strength and energy from the vine into itself, and the tree will often die.

Likewise, the Heavenly Father prunes the “branches” of our lives that are growing the wrong way.

He prunes the branches that are sprouting out of our flesh:

–FLESHLY HABITS that need to go.

–WORLDLY ATTITUDES that are hurting our witness.

–WRONG FRIENDSHIPS that are dragging us down.

Perhaps some of your branches have begun to grow in the wrong direction!

Or maybe your flesh has “sprouted” a branch that, if left un-pruned, would drain the strength out of your spiritual life.

It’s a hurtful, hindering branch that would eventually destroy your effectiveness and fruit-bearing!
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You say, “Well Jeff, how does the Lord prune me?”

God prunes us in TWO WAYS:

First, His WORD prunes us.

Hebrews 4:12 says that “The Word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Through His Word, God shows us where we have missed it so that we can begin to live in a way that truly pleases Him—-we are pruned, corrected, and encouraged by the Word of God!
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And our relationships with others are used by the Vinedresser to prune us.

God puts fruit testers, divine sandpapers in the form of people into our lives to sand down the rough edges and prune away what needs to go.

As we interact with those he’s brought into our life, true fruit is produced
or the lack of it is exposed!

Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
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Jesus is the TRUE VINE
We are the BRANCHES
God is the VINEDRESSER

He is to us our very source of life!