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.

Holy Roots

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.”
Romans 11:16 NLT

Paul made a controversial statement in our verse today, which perhaps we could take issue with. Did he mean that the Jews could claim to be holy in God’s sight just because they had Abraham, or one of the other patriarchs, as their ancestor? To bring it up to date, just because I had Christian parents, does that mean my salvation in God is assured? But we can’t take this verse in isolation, because, as we find out later in this chapter in Romans, the link can be broken by personal choice.

Paul uses two analogies – branches and dough. Analogies that Jesus used as well. One of the well known, go-to, Scriptures about branches can be found in John 15. Jesus very clearly sets out a scenario based on a grape vine. Perhaps He was standing next to one as He taught His disciples. But we read in John 15:1-4, “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”. Jesus portrayed Himself as the grapevine, a vibrant and vigorous bush that was deeply rooted into the soil and which sprouted many branches, from which the grapes were picked. The grapevine produced all the nourishment needed for the branches to survive and grow the fruit intended. But to the people of His day, they knew it was important that a branch was connected to the vine to maintain its life and health. But Jesus made it clear that if a branch doesn’t produce the fruit, His Father, portrayed as the Gardener, would remove it. It would be cut off and burned. And those branches that do produce fruit would find themselves pruned so that their fruit harvest gets even better. 

Some years ago, as the Charismatic renewal was flowing over the UK, I remember a conference speaker warning the Christians caught up in the excitement of the Holy Spirit visitation. He used the grapevine scenario to provide a picture of the branches producing lots of leaves, green and succulent. But there was no fruit. God, he said, wasn’t looking for leaves. It was fruit He was after. And branches producing no fruit would end up cut off and burnt. A warning, timely and relevant. Perhaps we can ask where so many of those Charismatics are today? Jesus gave another illustration through the parable of the wicked farmers, and He ends it with this verse, “I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit” (Matthew 21:43). 

Well, fellow pilgrims, how fruitful are we? What fruits are we producing? We mustn’t forget that there are good fruits and bad fruits, and, because of sin, the latter is more common. But we can read Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things“! This is the fruit that God is looking for, and, for most Christians, fruit takes a long time to grow. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to gently, but persuasively, work in our lives, fruit will grow. Our faithful Father loves us too much to allow otherwise.

Dear Heavenly Gardener. We pray for more of You in our lives, as we walk on in our journey to Glory. We know that we will encounter all sorts of obstacles but through them all, the encounters will help in growing and ripening our fruit. Please help us. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.