I Am the Vine; You Are the Branches John 15:1-4, NIV "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” This morning I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches”. Whenever I read the story of the Vine and the branches, I am led to think about a British missionary, J. Hudson Taylor. As a missionary he went into the inlands of China where he found everything to be insufficient. He didn’t know anybody there and found himself without sufficient financial support. In every respect Hudson was so anxious, and felt that all was too much for him. Finally he could no longer carry his burdens by the power of his own strength. This task was beyond his ability. Hudson was so disappointed he suffered a nervous breakdown. Then one day he received a letter from his sister, which read, “Especially today I am thinking of you and God has led me to pray for you. When I prayed, I heard a voice from God telling me to write the whole chapter of John 15 and send it to you. So here I’m sending you this letter. I hope you would be filled with God’s grace when you read this chapter.” He was touched by his sister’s letter and he started to read John 15. “I am the vine; you are the branches.” As soon as he read this verse Hudson felt the sun beginning to shine on him again, and he brightened up. He said to himself, “the Lord is the vine and I am the branch. There isn’t anything I have to worry about. The branch receives nourishment from the vine. I was a fool. Why did I try to provide everything all by myself? It is the vine which provides everything the branches need. I was foolish!” And he prayed “Lord! From now on I will put all my anxiety and care upon You. I believe You to take care of me.” He felt a peace flow like a river in his heart. From then onward, Hudson saw answers to all his prayers, and he was able to successfully continue his mission in the inlands of China. That is right! Instead of struggling to do things by ourselves, we should trust in Jesus Christ who is our true vine. When we rely on Him, His life fulfills our lives and lets us bear much abundant fruit. Sometimes we try to do God’s work all by ourselves. Bearing heavenly fruit is only possible when God works through our lives. There are times when we by-pass our God to ask of ourselves, “How can I earn money? How can I find resources? From where can I receive support?” We must stop struggling and wriggling. In those times we are forgetting that we are overstepping God’s authority by doing things by ourselves. During those forgetful times we are unduly creating struggles for ourselves. Let’s be mindful of the birds of the air. A sparrow flaps its wings and flies here and there for a short time. It soon becomes exhausted. It will land out of breath, saying “Let me have a little rest and start again.” On the other hand, an eagle can fly in the sky smoothly. When he is soaring, he relies on the wind and stays high up in the sky as long as he wants to. No gasping for breath but he just keeps spreading his wings. Christians who believe in Jesus must be like an eagle not like a sparrow. When we rely on Jesus we can fly like an eagle. 1. The branches that the Lord Himself has chosen Today we should know that each one of us is the branch which the Lord Himself has chosen. Jesus said in John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” He is asking us. “Do you think you chose me? I chose you! Why? Because I want the Father to give you whatever you ask in my name.” Let me ask you. Did you receive whatever you asked God for? I hear many saying “yes.” Sometimes “yes” but sometimes “no”. Isn’t it? This is because we ask God but don’t have confidence in the Word that Jesus chose us and God will answer whatever we ask in His name. The answer for our prayer comes not from us but from Jesus. It is because God’s miracle is shown through Jesus. People usually don’t realize that the devil exists. They regard demons as just a religious superstition. But the devil is real, and he always tries to whisper negative words into our ears. At every opportunity, he brings us anxiety, fear and despair. But if you give your ear to the Holy Spirit, He will speak faith into you. He will encourage you and comfort you. He will create a positive, active and creative mind in you and lead you to gain victory. If we listen to the voice of the devil we lose our strength, but if we pay attention to what the Holy Spirit says, we will gain new courage and power. When we confess by faith with our lips, this has a big impact on our lives. The central nerves for language exercise great leverage on other nerves in our body, which means our body is under the control of our language. As soon as we use negative language, our whole body responds with a negative reaction. If we use positive language our body gets busy to produce positive power. The devil tries to wear us down one way or another. He speaks negative words into our hearts and says, “You cannot do it. You are not qualified to be a branch of God’s vine.” This is the nature of his accusation. “Don’t you see that you are unable to bear fruit?” But there is one thing we should not doubt. Rebuke the devil! Tell him to stop saying those things to you. Tell the devil that “It is not I but the Lord who first chose me. My qualification as a branch is not in question. If I would have chosen God first, I must have been qualified; but it is God who first chose me through His unconditional grace. I have therefore held qualification given to me by the grace of God.” Resist the devil. Be confident! The devil may say, “You are gripping on God. See, you will soon get tired and will let go of your grip on Him. Maybe until now you have kept holding onto the Lord but from here-on-in you cannot keep going. You will become tired and soon give Him up.” But we must think a different way. It is not I but rather the Lord who holds me! If God did not have a grip on us, we would have already fallen into the world“. The devil discourages us all the time, “You’re terrible, useless and inadequate. How can you dare suppose to be regarded as a branch of God’s vine?” He continually accuses us. We need to always remember the following verses. 1 John 4:9-10 says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” You did not love God, but God loved you first and sent his Son Jesus into the world to save you. He called each one of us and forgave our sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters even if you are without love from anyone, know you are loved by God. He loves you and saved you. We don’t need to argue about our qualification to be loved. Even when you cannot see, hear or touch anything, you can still believe a promise which is written in the Bible. God’s promises will never disappear. His promises are not influenced by wind, rain, cold or hot days. No matter what the circumstances are, God’s promise will stand forever. That is why we believe the Word of God. Jesus also said in John 10:28-29 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” No matter how the devil furtively comes to you telling you all kinds of lies, he can’t snatch you out of the Father’s hand. He can’t snatch you from the hand of Jesus. If you fall down ten times, God will raise you up eleven times. You are never rejected. Jesus is holding you tightly to Him. Our Father keeps you steady. Romans 8:35-37 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” When we believe the love of God, we can have peace in our hearts. You can say, “Neither trouble nor hardship nor persecution nor famine nor sword can separate me from the love of Christ. God loves me and Jesus is now holding me on to him. Eventually I have got the victory. Even now I wrestled with the enemy of my soul, and have fallen down but I certainly am going to throw him down to the ground. I have already won this battle.” Christians are the people who end the finale in victorious praises. Maybe we sometimes fall down but when we believe that the love of Jesus holds unto us; God will most certainly give us power to overcome every obstacle. 2. I can do everything in the Lord The Lord lets us bear fruit in our lives. We have got the potential to do God’s will. If you try to bear fruit, your resource is your ability. But when the Lord lets you bear fruit, he will provide all supplies for you and meanwhile his power and authority will be revealed in your life. One day people will be flabbergasted when they see God’s wonderful deeds through you. Then know this, it is not you who bore fruit. You were just attached to the Lord and his power was seen through you so that you could bear fruit. In this age God reveals himself through you. You are a branch which is attached to the vine, a branch that is destined to bear fruit for Jesus Christ. You don’t have ability and power to bear fruit but you are attached to the Lord. That’s why His omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent power will be shown through you. Jesus said in John 15:4-7 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” We can’t bear fruit by ourselves. But when we receive Jesus as our Savior and trust in the Lord, He will make it possible to us to bear fruit. When I remain in the Lord and live a life of surrendering to God and a life for the glory of Christ, I can ask in His name and whatever I ask will be given to me. Of course we should ask things for the glory of the Lord. If we’re asking for personal revenge, he will not answer us. “Lord, I hate my neighbor. Please get rid of him!” God will not answer those kinds of prayers. Ask for the glory of God, for revealing his love, and for fulfilling your destiny in Him. He will surely show you the way. Therefore if we remain in the Lord and the word of the Lord remains in us, we can ask anything according to His will and it will be given to you. Studying the Bible is so important. When you read the bible if some verses touch your heart, it is time to pray holding on to those verses as promises so that you can gain your answer. Reading the bible without inspiration will make you see only black characters on white paper. Rely on the Spirit of God, and ask for His wisdom to understand the Scriptures. When the word of God touches your heart, what you ask, with the Word will be answered. Even now while listening to my message, as you are moved, stop to pray. God will answer your prayer. God is not far away from you. In California, USA, there is the famous Redwood National Park. The height of the tallest Redwood in that park is more than 328 feet. Its roots are as deep as the tree is tall for they extend underground almost 328 feet. Because of the deep roots, this tree could stand firm through decades, strong winds, and heavy rains. Jesus is our root. Through decades and millennia Jesus will not fall down. How deep is the root of Jesus? Jesus was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. He is bigger than the whole universe. Therefore our root reaches even to the heavenly throne. Since Jesus is our root we are held strong. Your root is not found in your educational background. Where does Pastor Yonggi Cho come from? I do not come from the province Ham-An. I come from heaven. Jesus is the vine and I am attached to Him as a branch. I must be where my Jesus is. Jesus is the heavenly vine and we are His branches on this earth. Jesus bears fruit through us on the earth. That’s why we have got the potential power to carry out what the Lord wants us to do. The Lord sustains us as our root. Through us the vine comes into leaf, blossoms, and then bears fruit. We can do what the Lord has been doing. Jesus said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) The Bible never says the people who believe in Jesus are going to have a life of failure. It tells us that we are going to have a wonderful life, a life of great changes, of full adventures and of fulfillment. So often we allow God’s word to pass by us only to give ear to the devil. We easily give His word up. The devil says, “This word is not for you. It is for a person who is much better than you. A remarkable man can only receive it. This promise is too big for you. You do not have a chance. You are not qualified. It is not feasible. Maybe it happened a long time ago but not now.” Many people would respond, “Yes, you’re right. I agree with you.” They do not receive into their hearts the promises of God. We have our roots in heaven. We are the worldly branches of the heavenly vine. Since our heavenly root provides us nourishment, we can bring forth whatever the vine lets us produce. According to our root, Jesus, we bear fruit. Therefore our fruit is full of miracles. Through our prayers wonderful things will happen to us. In our lives we are going to experience great things which we have not yet seen, heard or even thought about. However we have to overcome a big obstacle in ourselves. We tend to depreciate ourselves. Even though we are born again in Christ we have a tendency of saying, “I am foolish. I can’t do it. Whatever I touch it turns worse. I’m not qualified.” We then call this kind of mindset modesty because we lower ourselves to worship God and serve others. But when we belittle ourselves, it is not modesty and we render ourselves ineffective in our good works. These thoughts are destructive. We are the earthly branches of a heavenly vine. It is God who is letting us bear fruits of righteousness, justice and holiness here on earth. According to the Word of God we also bear fruits of sanctification and health. We become whole and strong. We bear fruits of blessing. Curses will be wiped away so that all blessings will come to our lives. We bear fruit of eternal life of the Kingdom of heaven. In this world, we don’t just appear and vanish. We enter into heaven for eternity. We bear fruits of faith and glory. If we seek first God’s will, then God will be happy with us. He will do great things for our lives. If we do not remain in the Lord, we can’t bear fruit by ourselves. When we abide in the Lord, the Lord lets us bear abundant fruit. When we pray, we should know that we remain in the Lord and we have potential abilities to carry out what the Lord has been doing. When I am in the Lord, I am connected with Him and I can do everything through Him. I am well able to do wonderful things because I’ve got the power of the Lord. You are the people of a wonderful God. I can see you are great people. You don’t realize yet who you are. The wonderful power of Jesus is in you. Because you are attached to Jesus who is our heavenly root, all his heavenly supplies for you are yours in abundance. Please repeat after me. “I am well able. I am adequate. I have got the power. I am not thinking negatively.” It is written in the Bible, “It will be done just as you believe it to be done.” When we develop our potential by faith, God’s wonderful miracles will happen to us. We are going to write a new history of revival. 3. For the Lord to work through us We should be attached to the Lord for him to work through us. How can we stay with him? We must think like the Lord. If we are not serious when the Lord asks us to pray, God’s work cannot be demonstrated through us. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” When you guard your heart, when your heart and Jesus’ heart are in harmony, God’s work of life will be revealed through you. The Lord wants to perform great things through you but if you think in your heart, “I’m an incapable person. There’s no miracle. Miracles happened in the days of the early church, but they do not happen today.” Then how can God give you his blessing? You should get in agreement with God! Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Therefore we should always accept his thoughts and will. When the Lord says, ‘you can do it’, then we must say ‘yes’ even though it looks impossible in our eyes. With your word you can save a life or kill a life. For the Lord to work through you, you should speak like him. Speak faith, life, and blessing into people just like the Lord did. The blessing you speak to other people will return to you. If you curse others, the suffering of the curse will return to you as well. Speaking is invisible but brings great results. A famous American author, Napoleon Hill lost his mother when he was nine years old. His father remarried two years later. One day his father introduced his new wife to all his relatives. Then it was time for his father to introduce his new wife to Hill. He was so nervous. He made a wry face. He was standing with his arms folded. His father said to his new wife, stroking the boy’s head, “This is my son, Napoleon. He is a naughty boy. He is notorious for his mischievous behaviors in our village. Maybe he is thinking of making fun of you now.” And everybody laughed at him. Napoleon made up his mind, “Alright, I’ll show you guys what a bad boy I am. I’ll stir up trouble with the whole house.” But at that moment his new mother came near to him, looked into his eyes and said, “Honey, you’re guessing wrong. Napoleon isn’t a bad boy in the village. He just doesn’t know how to use his wisdom because he is still young. This is a very smart boy.” Hill was greatly encouraged by what his new mother said. “Yes, I’m clever. I’m not a bad boy.” After a while he bought a typewriter. His new mother taught him how to type. He began to learn how to express his thoughts in written words. He studied hard. Eventually, he became the advisor to presidents and kings around the world and his numerous books sold millions of copies, providing hope and courage to all. He became one of the famous writers of the Philosophy of Achievement. Listen! If he would have allowed his father’s word to rule over his mind, maybe he would have become a notorious gangster. He recalled the first day his new mother moved into their home. “My mother told me that I was a smart boy. I then changed my mind. I began to believe that I was indeed smart. I was able to achieve great things. I was able to lead a successful life.” The tongue has the power of life and death. By the power of your word somebody can become a bad boy or a man of great achievement. For the Lord to work through us, we should always keep in mind that we must speak like the Lord. In Jesus’ name I urge you to speak life, hope and encouragement to people. Conclusion: God wants us to bear much fruit. That is why He constantly prunes us back, removes the insects, and adds fertilizer to the soil of our heart. Jesus said, “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Brothers and sisters, you are not alone. You are not anybody. You are an earthly branch of the heavenly vine. You gain your nourishment from the heavenly root. Countless grace will be poured on you. If you pray for bearing much of God’s fruit in this world, you must receive His power. You are chosen people by Jesus who first loved you and even now holds you. God loves you and takes care of you. Take courage! Say like you mean it, “I am the branch of Christ. My Lord is bearing fruit through my life.” Be strong! Have confidence! I bless each one of you to see the glory of God in the people around you when He lets you bear all kinds of fruit. Let’s pray together. Dear heavenly Father! Today we are sitting here looking as normal as any other people. But we are earthly branches of the heavenly vine. We have our roots in heaven. There is wonder working power of heaven in us. Father God, by faith, let us know this. Help us to think, dream and speak like You so we may bear fruit and live a miraculous life. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen. 1