Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be brought forth. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself excepted abide in the vine no more can ye accept ye abide in me. 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 but nothing. 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. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples. Look at verse 16 of this passage if you would.

Jesus says ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go forth, excuse me, that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it you. Let's pray, Lord I love you, you are the vine, we are the branches and Lord we absolutely have nothing and are nothing without you. So I pray you bless our time today as we look at this passage we, Lord we don't want to entertain, I just really give up on that some years back. Lord we want to educate, we want to edify, we want to encourage, we want to enlighten the minds of those who are here with your word and your word only. May none of Daniel Hotrey's philosophy seep through just because I have the microphone. Lord I pray that your word, your principles and the truth of it will be what people learn, hear and apply to their lives.

In Jesus name we pray, amen. Alright we read the passage let me go through and it's going to be a lot but I want you to see kind of all the different angles that are involved in this particular statement that Jesus made when he said I am the vine. This is a little different because sometimes we have to kind of look through under the surface a little bit and say this is what this is and this is what this is but in this particular instance he kind of gives it to us. He says these are what these things mean. So I want you to notice first as we look at this passage and I want to introduce this because we're going to talk about this the next few weeks. I want you to see the subjects of this passage and these are the main ideas, these are the main things that he brings up. First is the vine and the vine is Jesus just so you understand that he is the vine.

Now in case you get confused we can sometimes just through our minds what we think isn't necessarily what is true. The vine is not just kind of a skinny thing that takes off maybe in a vineyard there growing grapes on a grape plant and different things and out of that vine that's coming up through here then there's little branches that come off. The vine of a grape plant is literally almost like a stump.

It's thick, it's kind of big there at the bottom and then everything that comes out of that are the branches. So we have to understand that Jesus is literally the main source. He is everything.

If anything comes out of this plant it has to come through Jesus. Everybody understand that? Alright so he is the vine. Second is the husbandman. Now that's a fancy word, the husbandman but it is an accurate word and here in this passage we're told that God the Father is the husbandman.

Now what is a husbandman? Well that's actually what we're going to be talking about today and in this particular passage the husbandman is the owner. He's the one that owns it. He's the one that owns the vineyard. He's the one that controls the vineyard. He's the one that literally does the work to make sure that the vineyard produces what it is supposed to produce. Sometimes the husbandman might be an individual or that maybe the owner would hire, but here in this story the owner, God the Father, is the husbandman. It's what we would call a vine dresser.

He's the person that does the pruning and the purging and all the work on literally the vineyard and he makes sure that all the shrubs and thorns and weeds are taken care of and that all the vines are obviously that are in good condition and that all the branches that come out of the vine are producing fruit like they're supposed to. Number three we have the branches and in this particular subject that he brings up he says that the branches are you and me believers. Now a person who is not saved is not a branch in Jesus. If you're saved, if you've put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Bible puts it this way, you've been grafted in to the family of God as a grafted into a plant literally that now we are plugged into the vine. Jesus is the vine and the branches are believers.

Okay? Notice next we have the subject of the vineyard. The vineyard.

Now let me just mention this. Where is a vineyard located? Now I don't mean a geographical area and I know your mind if you think vineyards you might think Italy, you might think France, you might think you know right before Lexington when you see children's vineyards or whatever the case might be and I hope many of you are thinking of places that you don't buy many things from. That's what I kind of hope you're thinking but anyway so we're thinking of vineyards and all those things so what are we talking about here?

Well where do vineyards where do they grow? Where do we put those? In the earth. In the earth. When Jesus said I'm the vine you're the branches he's talking about literally this is something that takes place on the earth. He's talking about us. We're not talking about heaven yet we're talking about earth. That's where vineyards are planted and you and I are a vineyard that is here to glorify God the Father who is the owner who is the husbandman and this all takes place on the earth.

Are you with me so far? Notice this next subject and that's four of us I'm so glad. The next subject is the fruit. The fruit. And what is literally illustrated here as the fruit? It is literally the spiritual growth and reproduction of the branch. That's what this fruit is. So that Jesus is the vine you and I are the branches God the Father is the husbandman and we understand all that the vineyard is on the earth and the fruit that we are to produce is literally spiritual growth and reproduction out of the branches which are us. So if I can put it this way is the way this is all supposed to go is that you and I as the branches are supposed to be producing spiritual fruit and the only way we produce that spiritual fruit is if we are connected to the vine and growing through the vine and God the Father as the husbandman is responsible to do whatever it takes in our life for us to get what we need from the vine to produce fruit. Are we all here?

Everybody understand we're all together on this so far. Now I want you to notice the purposes. We've seen the subjects. So what are the purposes of each of these subjects?

We have to understand this or you're never going to understand this story. The first is the vine. The vine's purpose. What is the purpose of the vine? Jesus. The vine's purpose here is to feed the branch what it needs to bear fruit.

Really complicated. What is the purpose of the husbandman who like I said we're going to talk about here in just a minute. Well the husbandman's purpose is to do what is required in the vineyard to produce the most fruit. The husbandman's job is to do whatever it takes in that vineyard to make as much fruit to come out and to be born as possible. What is a husbandman's purpose? It's fruit.

Look at me. The guy who owns it. The guy who runs it. He doesn't really care if you drive by and are really impressed by the vineyard. What a beautiful vineyard. What he really cares about is this beautiful vineyard is it producing fruit.

Okay. Third is the branch. What is the branch's purpose?

I don't know if you notice a trend going on here. What is the branch's purpose? Am I choking my tie here?

I'm sorry. The branch's purpose is to or you get this to bear fruit. So the vine's job is to make sure the branches bear fruit. The husbandman's job is to make sure he does what it takes in the branches to make sure they bear fruit. What is the branch's purpose to bear fruit?

Do you notice a trend going here? Everything in a vineyard is about what? Fruit.

It's not about the branch. It's all about the fruit. Notice purpose number four here is literally the fruit's purpose. What is the purpose of this fruit?

To put it in a bowl, to look at on the table, to sit there for a sitting while it is painted on some portrait for you to look at in a museum and be not impressed at all. What is the purpose of the fruit here? Well, the purpose of the fruit, the fruit's purpose is to glorify the husbandman. You see, the whole purpose of fruit coming out is to please the owner because without that fruit, the whole vineyard would be useless.

Might as well just plant grass so you can at least play baseball on it or something. The only purpose of a vineyard is to produce fruit. So really the only purpose of fruit is to glorify the owner, to make him happy. Next, what is the purpose of the vineyard? I mean the whole thing, what is the whole purpose of the vineyard? Get this, this is going to be a shocker, to grow fruit.

The purpose is to produce fruit. Now listen here, this is going somewhere and let me tell you, what is our purpose, you and me? Our purpose is to glorify the Father.

The Bible says that by the way. Our purpose is to glorify the Father by bearing fruit. That's our purpose. Now, so the main purpose of the vineyard is fruit.

It's all about the fruit. So what is our purpose statement? If we could take all of us here and we got to go all the way down to verse 16, look at verse 16 once again as I produce all this so you know where we're all going. It says, God, Jesus says, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father, my name, that your fruit shall remain. Look at verse eight, herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit.

So what is our purpose statement? We glorify the Father by bearing much fruit that remains. That's how you and I glorify God. Listen, part of glorifying God might be to write a little blog, to show up at church, to sing in a group, to be faithful, to give in an offering, but you and I have got to understand those are just little pieces of the vineyard. You and I need to know that our purpose, the only way we really glorify the Father is to bear much fruit and for that fruit to remain.

Already, are we having fun yet this morning? All right. So let me give you five steps that this passage gives us of fruit production by the branch. You see, as this passage goes along, I don't know if you've noticed this, but I want you to see it. In fact, Bruce Wilkinson, who wrote a book many of you read years ago, a smaller book called The Prayer of Jabez, he wasn't the first person to preach on The Prayer of Jabez by the way, but he sure made a lot of money doing it, that's for sure and good for him. But The Prayer of Jabez, he wrote a book and then he followed up a book called Secrets of the Vine. And in that book, he shares these things, but these things have been around for years and all these things, so it didn't necessarily come from him, it's just in the passage.

Nobody can make that up, it's just there. So what are the five stages of production? Fruit production for the branches that are in Christ. And who are the branches? It's the believers, okay? So notice in this passage, number one, there are branches that bear no fruit. You see, look if you would at verse two, he says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit. So first, there is a scenario of a Christian that bears no fruit.

Notice secondly, there is the Christian that bears some fruit. Look at verse two, he says, every branch of me that beareth not fruit and every branch that beareth fruit. So there's a difference right there and here's a branch that bears no fruit, here's a branch that bears some fruit. Notice a little bit later on in the passage, we find our next stage and there are branches that bear more fruit, more fruit.

And you say, well, where is that? Look if you would at verse two at the end, he says, every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth now more fruit. So here's the branch that bears no fruit, here's a branch that bears some fruit, here's a branch that bears more fruit. Then you notice all the way down, if you go through, let me get to verse five, he says, I'm the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth. Here's a different one, much fruit. So here's a branch that has no fruit, a branch that has some fruit, a branch that has more fruit.

All of a sudden, here's a branch that has much fruit, but notice last stage is in verse 16 and it is the branch that bears fruit that remains. So what is God's purpose for our life? His ultimate purpose is for us to bear much fruit that remains. Now you as a Christian sitting there, there should be something inside of you.

Now, if you didn't eat breakfast, maybe there's something else inside of you that's troubling you. But as a Christian, we should look at this passage and we should immediately begin to think, you know what? I want to be the kind of branch that brings forth much fruit and I want that fruit to remain. I don't want it to be temporary fruit.

I want to bring forth much fruit. But let's be honest, the average Christian, if we sit here and we read this passage so far, these are the stages that Jesus himself gives. Where do you think you would fit in this scenario? Are you a branch and this is not made, look at me, this is not made to make you feel guilty. That's not my job. You don't answer to me.

I'm on your side. I love you. Not only do I feel like I need to be bearing much fruit, but I want you to experience the joy of bearing much fruit. I don't preach these things so that you feel like, well, I hate going to church because all I do is make you feel like, you know, man, you don't do enough and you don't. Oh, no, no, listen, that's not my job.

That's not what we're here to do. But when the truth hurts, it's still the truth. And what should happen is not getting mad that the preacher's bringing this up, not getting he's expecting too much because may I say this, according to this passage, even the branch that bears no fruit, it's still a branch and you're still in Jesus Christ. You're still saved.

But what Jesus wants for your life is something that you can only experience and I can only experience when we begin to bring forth at least some fruit and then we grow to where we're bringing forth more fruit and then we mature to where we're bringing forth much fruit and then we get to the point that that fruit that we're bringing forth is eternal fruit. I want that, don't you? Anybody else? At least I'm not asking if you're there. I'm saying how many of you would say, preacher? Yes. According to this passage, that's where I would like to be.

That is my best scenario. Can you say amen this morning? You know wanting is half the battle. Realizing where we are is a big portion of it and wanting to be where we're not is a great step in the process. Now I want to give you lastly these two types of branches. Now out of these two types of branches, there are different things and I just want to show this to you real quick if I can. Look at these two types of branches.

I found this somewhat interesting to be honest with you because this is very misunderstood by people so I want to give it to you the way I believe that the Bible makes it clear. Notice the branch, the first branch is the branch that is abiding in Christ. He that abideth in me. Every branch, he says, that abideth in me. So there is the branches that abide in the vine. Out of that, there are four categories of that.

So if I can, let me give those to you. First type of branch is a branch that abides in Christ and that is first there are branches that bear no fruit, branches that bear fruit, branches that bear more fruit and branches that bear much fruit. But all of those are a branch that is in the vine, abiding in the vine.

Everybody with me so far say amen. And the only other type of branch is branches that abide not in the vine. And he speaks about that in this passage he says every branch that is not in me is cast forth, it withers as a branch and it's burned. So there are two types of branches. There are either branches that are in Christ or branches that are not in Christ. Let me make that clear.

There are people that are saved and people that are unsaved. Everybody with me so far say amen. Enough of the overview. You're like, wow, this is going to take forever.

No it won't, I promise. So this morning, just for the time we have remaining, I want to talk about the husband. Look at verse one. Jesus says I'm the true vine and my father is the husband man.

So what does the husband man do? Look at verse two and three. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.

So he's talking about the husband man. 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. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Let me say a couple things before we dig into it real quickly and hopefully that you'll learn more of God's word today. First thing is this. Do you know that you and I would have no vine to be grafted into if God had not loved us enough to give us his only begotten son?

So the husband man here, we're getting ready to talk about what he does in our life. Let's be reminded that we wouldn't even be part of the vineyard if God the father has given us his only begotten son. We wouldn't have a vine.

We wouldn't be in the vineyard. We would have no hope if it wasn't for God. May I be reminded to you that you and I would have no hope if it wasn't for the fact that Jesus the vine loved us enough to come and to die to shed his blood for our sins. May I say this, that Jesus left heaven and became a man so that this vineyard could be planted on earth. If he had never come, you and I would never be in the vine.

And we of all men, the Bible says would be most miserable. Jesus says here, by the way, let me just, this is a side note. Jesus says he's the true vine. That means that there are false vines.

Are y'all with me this morning? There are false vines. That means there are other vines that grow their own kind of branches and produce their own kind of fruit. You say, preacher, what are you talking about? Look at me.

Get this. Just because you're producing fruit in your life does not mean that you are connected to the right vine. Now I don't know if you've thought about this this morning. Religion can produce some good fruit. It can produce some bad, but just religion can produce some good fruit, but it can't produce salvation. See, there's a lot of people in this that are good people.

You hear it all the time, yeah, but they're such good people. Well, that's great, but that doesn't mean that they are in Christ. There are false vines, otherwise he wouldn't have to say that he's the true vine. If there were no other vines, he would just say I'm the vine, which he says later, but he makes it clear here, he says I'm the true vine.

In fact, do you know this? Islam can produce some good fruit in your life. Yeah, it can produce some really bad fruit in your life, but we're just talking about good works. I mean, Islam could produce, if you follow that, maybe some things that would appear to be good from the outside, but that doesn't mean it's good fruit, and it doesn't mean it's the kind of fruit that comes from the vine of Jesus Christ. Just because there's fruit doesn't mean you're in the right vine. In fact, may I say this, even without religion, do you know that you yourself can produce some good fruit in your own life?

Do you know that you can just say, you know what, I'm going to be a good person, and I'm going to help that elderly lady walk across the street, and I'm going to carry her grocery bag for her. Are those good works? Yes.

Is that good fruit? Yes. Does that mean you're in Christ?

No. Used to crack me up when I was a kid, my uncle Leon, and he might be in heaven looking down. Sorry, uncle Leon, but it used to be we'd watch TV and there'd be some Hollywood star or some whatever, and they would just say, I just want to thank God for whatever. Oh, see, they're a Christian. See, they're a Christian. They're a saved individual.

Just because you thank God doesn't mean you're saved. Just because there is some fruit doesn't mean you're in the right vine. Jesus says, I'm the true vine. So the only way you know if you're in the true vine is if you produce biblical fruit that remains. Everybody understand the difference? He says, now you're my disciples if you produce fruit that remains. It's the only way you really know.

Isn't that interesting? So who is the husband man? What does he do? Notice number one, the husband man. Number one, I want you to see his work of positioning.

His work of positioning. Now this is a very, one of the most misunderstood phrases in the Bible. He says, I'm the true vine.

My father is the husband. And look at verse two, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Now here's my issue. There are many, many religions that will teach you that that verse is showing that you can lose your salvation. Oh, you're in Christ, but if you don't produce fruit, he takes you away. And dear friend, that is not at all what this verse is teaching.

But I want to make sure that you understand it. He says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. So first, let's understand that this branch according to this passage is in the vine.

Can we have an agreement on that? Does the passage not teach that it's in the vine? Every branch in me that beareth not fruit. Second, let's understand that this branch represents the Christian that is not bearing fruit.

Are you with me so far? So if that branch is in Christ, it's a Christian, but he is bearing no fruit. Third, let's understand this phrase, he taketh away. This he taketh away, that taketh away is one Greek word. It is the Greek word airo, A-I-R-O.

It's where in fact we get the term aeronautics. It's where if you've ever, many of you had the privileged years ago of purchasing a Ford Aerostar. Did any of you here have a Ford Aerostar? Nobody wants to admit it.

You notice that? Nobody's like, you had one? Your dad had, of course. Yeah, it was my dad, not me. My wife and I started talking about this last week. How many of you ever had a Ford Probe? A couple of you, I don't know. They were hot back then, weren't they?

And they just like their design, they went way down. What does the word airo mean? Look at me, it means to lift up. So you look at this verse and you can misunderstand it. And listen to me, I believe it is translated the exact right way. But if you don't know your Bible, you can misunderstand this. Every branch of me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. So preacher, what does that mean?

No, it literally means to lift up, is this word airo. You say, what do you mean? Well, it's this thing of positioning. You see, to take away doesn't mean to take it out of the vine.

It means to take away from the position that it is in. Here's what happens in vineyards, and I didn't know you got to study it out, is that oftentimes in a vineyard as you have, many times they'll have wires that stretch and the vines will begin to grow on these white branches, they'll flow over this. And some people use trellises and smaller ones and all those different things that literally sometimes vines can begin to grow very, very low.

And there's a problem with that. When a vine gets very low, it can begin to grow in the dirt. And if you get any dirt on any part of a grape plant, they cannot grow grapes. They can't produce fruit. Not only that, if it gets low, that thorns and briars and things can come up and it can hinder that growth, it can keep it from producing. Not only that, as it begins to grow low, it means that it can't get the sunlight that that grape plant needs so desperately to produce. So what a husbandman will do, a vine dresser, he will reach down and he will reposition that vine.

He will take it away from the bottom and he will put it in the trellis differently, get it on the outside, get it higher so it can get the nutrients that it needs. You say, preacher, what are you saying? Well, this is what we call in the Bible, chastisement.

You see, his work of positioning, number one, it's a problem of dirt. It doesn't mean you're not saved, but it means that sin, that dirt in your life can choke your fruit bearing ability, for you can't grow fruit. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.