Remaining in Jesus, the True Vine

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“My anger will be gone. If I find briers and thorns growing, I will attack them; I will burn them up— unless they turn to me for help. Let them make peace with me; yes, let them make peace with me.” The time is coming when Jacob’s descendants will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole earth with fruit!”
Isaiah 27:4-6 NLT

The analogy of a fruitful vineyard continues, representing, as it does, the nation of Israel “In that day”, meaning the last days of this world. There will come such a time because God has decreed it, with numerous Biblical prophecies saying so. In the Book of Isaiah alone there are 57 such references, and we find more details about what is to come in Matthew 24 and Revelation. But in the vineyard, the Lord sings over His people, carefully nurturing them as He expressed His love for his people. Although Israel has experienced His wrath, the Lord still passionately loves His people. He is eager to defend them. He expresses this by describing how He would—and will—respond to the enemies that grow within the “vineyard” itself. These are not invaders, however. The Lord has already brought justice and peace to the earth at this future time. Israel’s enemies are all defeated and they live in peace with the Lord as their king.

Yet even in that peace, some will rebel against God, consequently facing His wrath. It is tragic that there will still be these rebellious people, impregnated by their sin and chasing after other “gods”. But God will know who they are and they will feel the full force of His attack. Jesus said, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned” (John 15:5-6). God said through Ezekiel, “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live” (Ezekiel 18:23). The sad thing is that those “wicked people” have a window of opportunity to turn to God before there comes the Day of Judgment, but even in the End Times there will still be a remnant of sinners. They will have seen Israel’s enemies eliminated and they will have enjoyed an unprecedented time of peace, but they have turned their backs on God nevertheless.

Moving on to the next of today’s verses, we find a reference to Jacob. We will know from our studies in Genesis that Jacob was renamed Israel. Genesis 32:28, ““Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won“”. And from the fruit produced by the nation of Jacob, or Israel, the whole world will benefit. In the language of the song, this will become possible because the Lord will protect Israel from her enemies and create the perfect conditions for the “vine” to grow and thrive. 

In terms of the future, the greatest fruit of Israel will be the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Lord Himself. Isaiah 11:1, “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root“. Through faith in the Messiah, believers from the entire world will come into relationship with the God of Israel. They will receive His protection and provision. As He promised Abraham, “all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3b).

Since Jesus came to this earth two thousand years ago, the nations of the world have been blessed, and are continuing in that blessing. But the king of this world, the devil, is not giving up without a fight, and Christians, followers of Jesus, are being persecuted for their faith everywhere, even in the “Christian West”. However, we see the “fruit of Israel” permeating our society through the good works undertaken by Christians, God’s children, who work for charities or do simple acts of kindness to a neighbour. We pilgrims help many people, who otherwise have rejected God.

We pilgrims are on mission in our neighbourhoods and family groups, bring salt and light into unpalatable and dark places. We are part of “Israel’s fruit” in our generation. We look forward to the day when the new Heaven and Earth age is with us, an age when “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4). But in the meantime, we are not a people who sit, huddled in a pew, keeping our heads down, waiting for the Day of the Lord to arrive. We boldly proclaim the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus, at every opportunity.

Dear Father God. We pilgrims have much fruit to grow, as we remain in Jesus, the true Vine. We pass on that Holy Spirit sustenance to our families and friends, and any others we meet, because that is what You have asked us to do. Help us to look with Your eyes at those in our communities with love and compassion, helping and serving them whenever we can, so that, by our good works, You will be praised. Lead us, we pray, in Your ways, day by day, as we live our lives of gratitude in the One who has done so much for us. Amen.

The Grapevine

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
John 15:1-4 NLT

These are well known verses, much referred to in the early days of the charismatic renewal. I can still remember a conference sermon based on these verses and preached in 1979 or thereabouts, where the speaker lambasted the charismatic audience for producing lots of leaves but no fruit. But Jesus’ illustration was clear. He described Himself as being like a grapevine from which many branches emanated, and there are as many branches as there are believers. The grapevine has always been of great spiritual significance to the Jews. For example we read about a vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7, about how God planted it with great care but instead of producing a harvest of sweet grapes, its fruit was bitter. And Isaiah finished with, “The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence” (Isaiah 5:7). ‭So, when Jesus described Himself as the Grapevine, the people of His land would know what He meant. 

To a Christian, a true, born-again, believer in Jesus, His presence in our lives is indispensable. We cannot survive for long without Jesus’ life-giving spiritual nourishment sustaining us and providing the resources we need for our daily life and pilgrimage. Sadly, some try to live without Jesus. They will read their Bibles. They will do all the right things, singing all the hymns and saying all the prayers, following their denominational liturgies to a fault, but in reality they have been cut off from the true Grapevine. Their hope is that if they dig in and don’t do anything they shouldn’t, then they will get into Heaven. But Jesus went on to talk about fruit. Which brings around to the thought – what fruit are we pilgrims producing? 

Jesus’ analogy was that He was the Grapevine but His Father was the Gardener. The thing about a vine is that it can’t just be left year after year, in the hope that the crop of grapes will never end. It has to be pruned. Dead and unfruitful branches must be cut off. The farmer and his staff therefore, and with great skill, know exactly where to prune to maximise the return on their investment. Some parts of the vine will stop producing the sort of grapes that are required, so those branches have to go. Other parts only produce small grapes – they are no good either. And so by careful husbandry, the vine is cleaned and fruitful. In a spiritual setting, the Master Vinedresser, Father God Himself, carefully does His pruning, and by doing do He allows even more spiritual fruit to be realised. What are we doing that we shouldn’t be doing? Can we feel the secateurs starting to cut? Are we producing fruit that is bitter and sour? Cut, cut. And so the process continues day by day, through God’s careful pruning. 

Thankfully, the Master Gardener is very patient. In Luke 13:6-9 we read, “Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’ “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”” God is in no hurry to lop off unfruitful branches but
in the end, fruitless branches are finally cut off and burned, and there is no way that they can be re-attached without repentance at the foot of the Cross. Thankfully, our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, will never reject a repentant sinner. 

Father God, the Wonderful Master Gardener, we praise and thank You today. Amen.

Belonging

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
Romans 11:23-24 NLT

Paul returns to his analogy of Jesus being the olive tree, and branches representing His people, Jew or Gentile. And he makes a comparison between the “wild olive” branches, representing the Gentiles who had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and the original branches, representing the Jews, God’s chosen people. Both types of branch, however, drew their sustenance from God’s “cultivated tree”. Paul makes a statement that implies that being grafted into His tree was contrary to nature, but that God was willing to do it. Was God being grudging and reluctant in allowing this to happen, as perhaps we could interpret from Paul’s wording? The use of the phrase “far more eager” implies that God is more inclined to His people, the Jews, than anyone else. But is this the case?

Of course not, we exclaim! God has no favourites we cry! We quote the words of Jesus in John 3:17, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him”. The word “world” implies everyone, not just the Jews. And we also read 1 Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth”. So what was Paul meaning in these verses from Romans 11?

Paul, I believe, was appealing to his Jewish audience. Perhaps those on the periphery of the early church in Rome, or his fellow Jews who happened to read his epistle. He was reminding them of the special place in God’s heart for His people. Back in Deuteronomy we read about God’s instructions , given through Moses, for the Israelites as they were about to enter the Promised Land. We read in Deuteronomy 7:6, “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure”. Although God wanted the other nations around Israel eliminated at that time because of their wickedness and idolatry, He had a plan for the whole world.

But we pilgrims know that, even if we are “wild olive branches” grafted into the Olive Tree who is Christ, we are now adopted into God’s family. In Paul’s day, adoption was a special and honoured status, never second best. And so it is with us. We are also God’s treasure, because we responded to His calling and became part of His family. So there will be a day when the original branches, God’s chosen people, will be grafted back into the Olive Tree, and will join us Wild Olives in a cacophony of praise to our wonderful God. We praise our wonderful Heavenly Father today.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your wonderful plan, executed when Jesus came to this world, to save the world through Him. Amen.