I Am the Vine

According to John, chapter 15. The Gospel of John, chapter 15.

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And of course, those of you who are familiar with the gospel of John know exactly what this passage is known for. Right. So when you found it, go ahead and stand with me for our gospel reading. And again, even the standing of the word of God, right, that's found in the word of God, isn't it? In the Old Testament, they stood when the law was written.

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And so in the New Testament, the gospels are the equivalent of the law. And so we stand. So notice these words as found in John, chapter 15. We'll just start at the beginning here. Jesus said to his disciples, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower.

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He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

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I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me, you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers, such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. For my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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Jesus, thank you for your holy word. And now, Holy Spirit, would you make this a word for us this morning in this room? Make it a holy moment. We pray in your name. Amen.

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You can be seated.

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Reading the Bible as a kid was often frustrating. If you grew up in church and you're familiar with the Bible, it can be frustrating at times. Anybody. Amen for that, because really, it is difficult sometimes to really get a handle on what's going on. In fact, John, the Gospel of John, is one of these books that a child can read it and understand what it's saying.

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Truly, you read John three, which is one of the, I mean, most fundamental, deep theological things that could ever be said. All right. Or John one, think of that. Or right here in 15. And a child could read through it and grasp almost intuitively the basics of what's being said.

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And yet I'm still a 43 year old trying to understand John 15. And I revisited it, of course, this week and was again blown away by what is here. But as a kid, I remember. I distinctly remember getting frustrated because of these dad gum analogies. Do you know what I'm talking about?

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And John is full of them, isn't he? I mean, it seems on every single page, born again. And you remember Nicodemus. He's us, right? Nicodemus represents us.

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He comes to Jesus at night in his darkness, in his ignorance. Right? That's what that means. You don't have clarity, right? He comes to him at night and born again.

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You may not have to enter in my mother's womb. Oh, come on, man. You've been at the word this long, brother, and you don't know? You're a leader in Israel and you don't know. Do you know how many times Jesus said that about.

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I'm sure he didn't say it to my face, but I'm sure he. Here he goes again. You know, he doesn't understand. And truly, we have to have God's light, his holy spirit, to understand the scriptures so that when we read them, even personally when we read them, we should ask specifically for God's spirit to come and enliven that word to us, shed light on it. And so as a kid, I just remember, like, man, why not just tell us who you are?

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You know? Remember the disciples say the same thing, right? And I repeated this last week, all right, we get frustrated because we j