Connected (2)

“I Am the True Vine”

Hebrews 12:3-11

 

We just heard God’s word speaking about discipline. If Pruning is the word in gardening, Discipline is the word in the process of sanctification.

 

We are justified by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is imperative for the serious Christian to grow in faith, go through sanctification, be disciplined, be “pruned.”

 

Here are some dangerous statements we make in order to justify our undisciplined life:

 

“Badveli, I do have negative and painful circumstances in my life. They are consequence of fate, not choices that I made.”

 

“Badveli, let us be honest, I enjoy sinning. Why should I discipline my life? My sins aren’t hurting anybody?”

 

“If I sin, this does not mean I don’t do good things for God. God can use crooked sticks. We are not all called to be Billy Grahams.”

 

“Badveli, the things you are mentioning are not sins. They are my personality traits; they are weaknesses I struggle with.”

 

In the process of discipline, some words are used that we don’t enjoy much: rebuke (5),

punishment (6),

enduring hardship (7),

discipline (8).

 

-In 1988 a wrestler for the USA Olympic team, who had just received a gold medal was asked the secret of his training. He said, “I don’t have a secret. I don’t let anything come before my physical training and mental preparation. I refuse to be distracted by anything else on the face of the earth.”

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some reason why God prunes us:

-         It brings the sunlight into the dark parts of our lives. We all have “dark” areas of our lives. If they are not exposed to God’s light, we will eventually die.

-         It will increase the size and the quality of the fruit. These are God’s fruits and not mine. The fruits of the Spirit. They cannot bloom and get nourished if the branches are not pruned and healthy. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (11)

Please notice that all this procedure of discipline is done for encouragement (4). This is not a negative action. It is an action from God for our own encouragement.

 

Let us move to the second part.

 

ABIDE in me.

 

In the late 1980’s fire destroyed a huge building in Manhattan Island. The alarm system was working, the fire department was on time, plenty of firefighters were available, yet the whole building was burned to the ground. Why? It was discovered later that the city water line had never been connected to the building fire faucets. Not CONNECTED.

 

John used the word “abiding” many times in chapter 15. He actually used it 7 times in this short passage:

“abide in me…” (v. 4)

“Abide in the vine…” (v.4)

“if any abide in me and I abide in them, they produce much fruit.” (v. 5)

“Abide in me…” (v.6)

“Abide in me…” (v.7)

“Abide in my love…” (v.9)

“Abide in my love…” (v.10)

 

Ok, let me clear one thing again. Bearing fruit is not the focus.

Bearing fruit is the result of the abiding on Jesus and allowing God to prune you. One has to see that the fruits are His Fruits and not ours. The fruits are given by God, the fruits of the Spirit. However, we need to abide in HIM, remain, stand firm on HIM.

 

 

Max Lucado writes about this:

“God wants to be as close to us as a branch is to a vine. One is an extension of the other. It’s impossible to tell where one starts and the other ends. The branch isn’t connected only at the moment of bearing fruit. The gardener doesn’t keep the branches in a box and then, on the day he wants grapes, glue them to the vine. No, the branch constantly draws nutrition from the vine.”

 

Brothers and Sisters, Apart from God , we can do NOTHING.

 

There is a wonderful passage in Ezekiel 15:1-5. It talks about the branches of the vine, the quality of the wood that cannot be used for anything:

 

“The word of the LORD came to me:  "Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?  If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?”

 

Even the quality of the wood of the branches in the vineyard is nothing. With walnut wood or oak wood, one can make wonderful things. But listen carefully. Jesus used the words carefully. We were given the imagery of a sheep and not a horse. We are given the imagery of the branches of the vine and not the oak wood. I think God is telling us a message.

The center of all these I AMs is God. We need to learn to abide in Him. We need to learn to stay close to Jesus. We need to learn to keep the channel open with God, even though we feel angry, neglected, or disappointed.  WITHOUT GOD, nothing can be made of us. We are of no use but to be burnt.

 

How do you know you are abiding in God? Here are some signs.

1. We have desire to be fed by God. Thirsty and longing to God . Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for streams of water,
       so my soul pants for you, O God.

    2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
       When can I go and meet with God?”

 

2. We experience God’s love everyday in our life. John 15:9

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

3. We experience God’s blessings. Acts 4:13

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

4. We experience intimate relationship with God in prayer. Prayers are answered. John 15:7

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

 

“I am the true vine.” Allow to God to prune you. on the other hand abide in him.

Amen.