Biblical Discipleship Pt. 29 Pruned to be Productive & Fruitful!

Jesus used a vivid illustration of a grapevine to teach truth to His disciples. 

In our last post, we noted how the structure of a grapevine connects with who the Lord Jesus Christ really is and all His mighty works.  We also learned how Christ saying that "I Am the true vine"  connects Him with titles of Messiah from the prophets.

We saw that the roots produce a strong trunk which has a head. Growing from each side of the head are load bearing arms called cordons and their function is to keep all of the fruit producing shoots off the ground and vertically oriented. 

The cordons are a picture of Christ our Head, lifting each believer up from the ground where we can be defiled. As the true vine, Christ lifts us up out of the muck of the world so that we are spiritually healthy and productive for Christ. 

Our life is hid with Christ. 

Colossians 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The roots of a grapevine are unseen, hidden away in the ground and this reminds us that our life as believers is now hidden with Christ.

He lifted us up and put us on the Rock.

Psalm 40:1-3   I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2)  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3) And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. 

King David described what Jehovah did for him. Jehovah heard his cry for deliverance and brought him up out of the horrible pit of sin and degradation. He rescued David from sinking in the miry clay of sin's quagmire and set his feet on Christ, the solid Rock.

David's heart overflowed with love for Jehovah and he sang fresh new praises that God put into his mouth. The king became a willing witness telling others about the goodness of his God.

This is what Christ the True Vine does for each of us. He lifts us up out of the mire of sin and keeps us safely supported by His everlasting arms of love. 

The Father is going to tend the branches on His vine. 

John 15:1-2 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. 

Jesus tells us that His Father is the husbandman of the true vine. The word "husbandman" means a tiller of the land or one who cares for the vineyard. The idea here is that though the earth and all its fullness is the Lord's, it will not yield fruit unless He works the land. 

Acts 16:14  And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

This is a metaphor for God working in the hearts of men, preparing them to hear the gospel that they might respond by faith. He is always at work and men do not see what He is doing. 

The salvation of Lydia at Philippi was orchestrated by God, so when Paul preached, her heart and mind was open to the truth that he shared. 

A good husbandman works the earth, cultivates his plants, and naturally expects them to produce fruit in proportion to the amount of effort he has invested in them. Our heavenly Father, the divine Husbandman, seeks to produce fruit through us, as we abide in Christ.

The goal of any grapevine is to produce as much fruit as possible. One can easily understand why this is such a rich application for believers to learn about. 

Christ as the true vine feeds all of His branches. He brings life giving nourishment and water to His branches. He lifts up, anchors and supports the entire vine. 

Abiding in Christ transforms us.

John 15:4-5  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. 

Jesus clearly explained what must happen. The branches must always abide in Christ, the true vine. No branch can produce any fruit by itself. Each branch relies on Christ, the true vine for all things needed in order to produce fruit. Without abiding in Christ, we are powerless and can do nothing. 

The word "abide" means to remain or continue in Christ permanently, being firmly rooted in Him. It also means to wait patiently on the Lord. 

Now, our Father is the husbandman and He is going to do all of the work needed so that we can produce fruit. Jesus described what kind of work this would be.

Dead wood is removed 

John 15:2  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. 

Here is what the Father is going to do to each branch that is in the true vine, Jesus Christ. He is going to take away dead branches and cut back living ones. 

The word "purgeth" refers to pruning useless shoots off a vine. It also has a metaphorical meaning of cleansing from filth and impurities while removing guilt. 

Believers who defile God's temple will be removed.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17) If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

First, all the dead wood will be thoroughly removed. Dead wood breeds disease, can cause rot and creates habitat for insect infestation. 

Paul's words to the church at Corinth is a picture of God judging sin by cutting off a Christian who does not bear fruit or one who is sinning against Him.

Some Corinthian Christians were guilty of committing sexual sin and thus, they defiled the temple of God, which Paul told us, is our body. 

God will destroy those who defile His temple and this connects with the Father cutting out the dead wood. 

Second, the live wood must be cut back drastically each year. If this is not done, then extra shoots called "suckers" begin to grow but they do not produce fruit. They only consume the vines nutritious resources. 

"Suckers" are kind of like people who say they are believers and who hang out with Christians, but they contribute nothing to the cause of Christ. There is no life in them.

Pruning back live wood is done so that the growth is properly regulated, better fruit production will be gained and nutrient wasting suckers will be minimized. 

Pruning the branches is a chastening process 

Hebrews 12:5-8  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7)  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The idea of "purging" or pruning a grapevine is connected with another familiar New Testament word, the word "chastening." 

"Chastening" means what God does in our soul to cultivate it, to break up the stony hard unyielding soil of our heart. "Chastening" from the Father roots out pride, corrects our transgressions and curbs our lust driven passions. 

"Chastening" includes giving us moral instruction to increase virtuous character in us and to keep us on the straight and narrow path that pleases God (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

The writer of the book of Hebrews reminds all believers not to be upset when God chastens or rebukes us. It is the Father's love that motivates Him to correct us when we need it. 

Chastening of believers means that God deals with us as His children and if we claim to belong to Christ the true vine, but we never experience chastening, our profession of faith is false and empty.

God's Word cleans us and purges our hearts.

John 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 

What does the Father use to prune or chasten us? He uses His powerful word. This is why Jesus said that the Word cleans His disciples (Ephesians 5:25-26). 

Why do we as branches in the true vine, need to be purged and cleansed? 

We inherited a lot of tendencies, attitudes and thinking that is not Christ like at all. We carry around a lot of our "old man" baggage with us into our new relationship with Christ. The Father is intent upon cutting out the "old man" things that hinder us from spiritual progress. 

The Father does not expect us to "clean up our act" when we come to Him through Christ. He accepts us as just we are and then He systematically prunes and purges us. He is going to remove the dead wood (old man things) and the suckers (cares or distractions of the world) from our lives. 

As I have noted before, this process is called ongoing sanctification and it will continue in each of us until the Lord calls us home. 

The Father's pruning tool is very sharp.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Vines are pruned by sharpened cutting tools. This text tells us about God's cutting tool. The word of God is living truth that confronts our sins, exposes our wrong motivations and challenges us when our thoughts are not right. 

The Word of God is infused with His power and nothing can withstand what God says in His Word. It is sharper that the finest cutting edge of a surgical knife because it cuts into our emotions, out minds and our hearts. 

The fate of those who do not abide in the True Vine. 

John 15:6  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. 

The picture here is similar to the final judgment of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25). It is also like the parable of the wheat and the tares, or of the fish in the net (Matthew 13). The bad fish, the goats and the tares will be cast aside and burned. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Jesus used three words to describe believers who are productive for the cause of Christ. 

First is "bearing fruit" followed by bringing forth "more fruit (John 15:2). Last is bringing forth "much fruit" (John 15:8) and this is what glorifies the Father. 

However, pruning is required in order for us to bear any fruit. God's chastening may seem hard when we are going through it, but when He is done, we will be better equipped to bring Him glory by bearing much fruit. 

Maintaining a constant connection to the True Vine is needed for spiritual life, spiritual growth and being a fruitful Christian. 

Christ as the True Vine and believers as abiding branches teache us that we cannot live for Christ in the power or energies of the flesh. Our flesh can only produce rotten grapes that will be thrown away. 

Jesus is inspecting our lives to see if His life is in us. HE said that we abide in Him and He will  abide in us. This is how we can be fruit producing believers. This is what Paul means each time that he says we are "in Christ." 

We are to abide in Christ. That is our activity. He allows us to bear fruit for Him.   

Being filled by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit keeps us abiding in Christ. 

Reading His life giving word and spending time with Him in prayer keeps us abiding in Christ. 

Worshipping the Father in Spirit and truth and being His joyful, ready witnesses, keeps us abiding in Christ. 

I pray that each of us are branches abiding in the True Vine, Jesus Christ.

Bob