I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches John 15:4-8, NIV 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. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches,” which is based on John 15:4-8. Please repeat after me: I Am the vine, you are the branches, I Am the vine, you are the branches. God’s will for us is that we prosper spiritually and physically with everything around us going well. He wants us to have life to the full. God, who is love, wants His children to prosper in the Lord. All loving parents want their children to prosper. God loves us even more in that He purchased us from sin with the blood of Jesus. God wants us to prosper in Him. We therefore need to prosper in the Lord after believing in Him. Things do not go well at times in our faith walk. We are full of the grace of the Lord when we are full of the Holy Spirit and joy. We will spontaneously give overflowing thanks to God. We will prosper in everything we do; however sometimes we lose our joy and gratitude. All things seem to go wrong. We despair in utter hopelessness. However our faith will eventually rebalance and things will begin to go upwards even when we go up and down for a season. What should we do when our faith goes downward? What should we do so that our faith will be quickly restored? How can we maintain our faith in the Lord and live in His blessings? I would like to ponder about the grace of the Word through today’s Scripture of John 15. First, we need to remain in the Lord in order to live victoriously in the Lord, being filled with the Holy Spirit. We will receive the blessings and miracles of God when we remain in the Lord. John 15:4 says: “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.” Jesus had supper with His disciples the night before He was crucified. Jesus preached His last sermons to them. These sermons are called the Upper room’s Narration because Jesus preached them in the Upper Room. These last sermons are written in the Gospel according to John Chapters 14, 15, and 16. Jesus used the metaphor of the vines and the branches to exhort and comfort His disciples. We can enjoy abundant grace and joy from the Lord when we are united with the Lord like branches are connected to a vine. John 15:11 says: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” “My joy, the joy of Jesus Christ, may be in you and that your joy may be complete!” The joy coming from the world is only temporary. Sometimes worldly joy brings us even bigger hopelessness or frustration. We may seem to have true satisfaction when we gain worldly achievements. Worldly joy cannot fill the emptiness in our heart even if we gain worldly things in abundance. Some people think they would be happy when they have a lot of money but in fact, it may be quite the opposite. Most rich do not sleep well because of worry. Christians can overcome all trouble with the joy of the Lord when they remain in the Lord. We can work in the world while remaining in the Lord. We can make money, study, or do good things in this world filled with joy because we remain in the Lord. If we do not remain in the Lord, we will not have joy even if we make a huge amount of money. Worldly success without the Lord cannot be a true success. Even the most successful people can fall down overnight. Then they will lose all hope. Some of them even give all things up and miserably end their own life. We often wonder why a most popular actor or actress commits suicide when he or she loses worldly things and aspirations. Why does the most successful CEO of a company give up his own life? We feel sorry for these people. Why do they do this? It is because worldly things cannot give them true joy or satisfaction. Only Jesus Christ can give us true joy and satisfaction. We can have true joy and satisfaction when we remain in the Lord. The Lord comes to stay in our hearts the very moment we open the door of our hearts. Revelation 3:20 says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” The Lord comes and stays with us from that moment onward. We then need to be united with the Lord, living for His glory throughout our lives as children of God. Apostle Paul confessed in Romans. Romans 6:5 says: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” Paul used the term unity to describe our dwelling in the Lord. The grace of the Lord to overcome all trouble more than sufficiently, and to live victoriously in Him, will come upon us; when we are united with the Lord. The Lord Jesus comes to stay in our hearts wherein he leads our lives and pours His marvelous grace on us throughout our lives. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” We do not belong to self after the Holy Spirit has come into our hearts. We belong to the Lord. Please repeat after me. “I belong to the Lord.” Hallelujah! You belong to the Lord. He will take care of you. So do not worry or fret in any circumstances. Do not be stressed. Do not feel sad. The Lord will be with you and take care of your life to the end. Missionary Hudson Taylor is called the father of China Inland Mission. He suffered a great deal as a missionary in China. His own child and fellow missionaries died in China. He was so deeply depressed, frustrated, and weary that he developed a nervous prostration and hypochondria. Once during his struggles, he received a letter from his missionary friend, which comforted him greatly. His friend wrote, “How then to have our faith increased? A looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.” His friend exhorted him to rest in the Lord without striving to have faith. Hudson Taylor later described the following joy he found while reading that letter from his friend: “I have striven in vain to stay in him. Now I have decided to stop striving and to rest in the power and peace of Christ. I’ll strive no more for has He not promised to abide with me? I looked to Jesus and saw that He had said, ‘I will never leave you.’ He promised never to leave me, never to fail me? And He never will! “Can I be poor while Christ is rich? Can a left hand be poor while the right hand is rich? Can a body be starving if the head eats well?” Thereafter Hudson Taylor understood that the branch had only one thing to do: to be connected to the vine. He later confessed: “I could trust Him even when I could not think straight nor pray.” We must commit our ways to the Lord even when we are too weary and burdened to carry our heavy load of life, and we have collapsed without knowing what to do. Then the peace coming from the Lord will overflow. Hallelujah! His grace is wonderful. We are unable to solve our problems because we strive to solve them by our own endeavors. Never strive to solve problems on your own. Commit them to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I now leave all the heavy load, worry, anxiety, pain, agony, and sorrow to You. Now have compassion on me and pour Your joy, peace, and comfort on my heart since I have put my heavy burdens before You.” The Lord will take care of our life as long as we remain in the Lord. This is why Apostle Paul made the following confession. Galatians 2:20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” “My old nature has died now that I have been crucified with Jesus. The Lord lives in me and I now live as a changed person. I am renewed.” Repeat after me, “I am renewed.” We are renewed. The Lord lives in us and for us. It is therefore our old nature that constantly worries, frets, and cares. Jesus Christ, the Master of our life, abundantly bestows joy, peace, and freedom in our hearts. What a privilege to have Jesus in us! We cannot help thanking the Lord. We must give thanks to the Lord again and again. Whenever we come to our Lord, we will live with deep gratitude for Him. We will shed teardrops of gratitude and say, “Lord, thank You for Your grace. I want to live for Your glory for the rest of my life.” We sing the following hymn. There’s a deep, settled peace in my soul, There’s a deep, settled peace in my soul, Tho’ the billows of sin near me roll, He abides, Christ abides Hallelujah! Second, we must bear fruit while we remain in the Lord. John 15:5 says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We find a wonderful word of confirmation here. We will bear much fruit as long as we remain in the Lord. As long as the branch is connected to the vine, the tree will take nutrients from the soil and provide it to the branch so that it will bear much fruit. How wonderful this is! There were vine trees in the garden of the house I grew up in when I was little. My grandfather planted them. In the winter these vine trees looked worthless. They looked withered and distorted with their crooked branches. If vine trees bore no fruit they would not be good for anything but kindling wood. Do you know when the vine trees have the most worth? It is in the late summer when the vine bears grapes. Hallelujah! However in our case, doves came and ate all the grapes before we had a chance to harvest them. I would see delicious grapes and then realized a grapevine is indeed a valuable tree despite its ugliness in the winter season. We are just like that. We look worthless. We are crooked and distorted due to sins. There is absolutely nothing that we could boast about in ourselves. However after receiving nutrients from the vine we can bear much fruit and our Lord will receive glory from us. Psalm 1:3 says: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” “Whatever he does prospers.” Whatever He does prospers. Whatever He does prospers. Hallelujah! We will bear fruit as long as we remain in the Lord; who is our vine and has provided all wonderful blessings for us through His suffering and death on the Cross. The Lord pours all grace of righteousness and forgiveness abundantly on us so that we will bear the fruit of righteousness and forgiveness. As long as we remain in the Lord as a branch is connected to a vine; He will help us bear the fruit of holiness and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. He will pour the work of divine healing on us so that we will bear fruit of miraculous healing as long as we remain in the Lord. He will help us bear the fruit of prosperity and blessings as long as we remain in the Lord. We can enter His abundant grace of eternal heaven and the Second Coming of the Lord as long as we remain in the Lord. It is true. We will have many blessings in the grace of the Lord when we believe in Jesus. What we need to do is stay connected to Him. We need to remain in Him so that we will bear fruit. I urge you to bear much fruit in the Lord. “Heavenly Father, we want to bear fruit abundantly by being filled with the Holy Spirit.” We must begin with grace from God in our hearts. We must bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our hearts first. We must abide in the Holy Spirit and not in our own spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will resemble the Lord Jesus. Galatians 5:22-23 describes the characteristics of Jesus. Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” This signifies the characteristics of Jesus. We will change when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Our characteristics will change. Hallelujah! We do not change when we are not filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord will change us when we truly become the people of the Spirit. He will break all our wrong personality, stubbornness, and disobedience and fill us with His love, grace, and peace. Sam Walton was the founder of the retail chain Wal-Mart. He was born in a poor family. Walton had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family during the Great Depression. He held on to the Lord and later with the help of the Lord bore much fruit. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and delivered newspapers when he was younger. He worked various odd jobs to support himself while attending college. He opened a small discount store in 1962 and after 40 years, Wal-Mart topped 2002 ranking of the Fortune 500. What made this possible? Walton treated his employees like a family. He respected and loved them. All the employees at Wal-Mart were deeply impressed by the philosophy of its CEO. Walton set ten rules for success which were based on biblical teachings. The tenth rule was: “Swim upstream.” He told people to swim upstream. He suggested that we go against popular tide of things as fish swim upstream. We need to go against the tide instead of drifting on the stream of worry and worldly affairs. With faith, go against the tide of problems which threatens to sweep over you. You should not be swept over by the tide. You must go in its opposite direction. Sam Walton made large donations to the poor and the sick after he was abundantly blessed by God. He served the Lord throughout his life and was called to be with the Lord. Let us not drift away into the sinful world but go upstream. We must be connected to Jesus Christ and go against the tide of sinful waves. We must go upstream of sufferings and problems so that we could live as great victors in the Lord. Third, we should live by the Word of God in order to live a fruit bearing life. We can bear much fruit when we live by the Word of God. John 15:7 says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” The Bible gives a condition here: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you.” How can we remain in Jesus? We can remain in the Lord by remaining in the Word. We must meditate on the Word day and night. The Word shows the will of God to us. It is a love letter from God to us. We must listen to the voice of the Lord through the Word. We must pray to God, saying, “Lord, speak to me when we read the Word. I want to hear the voice of the Lord.” We will be changed, healed, and forgiven, and gain new strength in the Lord when we listen to the Word. We must remain in the Lord. The Word is Jesus Christ Himself. We can meet the Lord Jesus through the Word. We can hear the voice of Jesus through the Word. 1 John 3:24 says: “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” When we hold on to the Word and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, miracles will be performed. Jesus promised. John 14:13-14 says: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Hallelujah! He will do whatever we ask in His name. It is the Word of promise. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. The Word is the Word of miracles, blessings, and promise of the Lord. When we pray, holding on to the Word, God will perform miracles. God will bless us. The Lord will pour His grace abundantly on us when we love His Word. There was a boy who loved the Word of God dearly and always kept his Bible in his front pocket. According to a September 2001 news article of USA Today, Leslie Wallace of North Fort Myers, Florida, shot her two sons with a shotgun. She was obsessed with witchcraft. Her second son Kenneth, 16, was shot in his chest; but his life was spared when the shotgun bullet hit the bible he had in his front pocket. Kenneth was a very devoted Christian and he kept his Bible in his front pocket and this literally saved him. He would have surely died because the shotgun blast squarely hit his chest but his bible saved him. The Bible that he loved so dearly saved his life. I want you, too, to carry your Bible. I mean carry it in your heart. We must always carry the Word in our hearts. We must transform our thoughts by the Word. We will see things through the Word when we change our thoughts. Miracles will follow us when we march forward and acknowledge them with faith. John 14:15 says: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 15:10 says: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Hallelujah! We will receive blessings, miracles, and grace from the Lord when we dwell in the Lord. It should be joyful to believe in Jesus. We must be excited to believe in Jesus. We must have overflowing thanks. There will not be any joy in our Christian life if we sink heavily into the middle of our problems, worry, and trouble. We must be joyous and thankful in our Christian life. When can this happen? We can be joyous and thankful when we are filled with the grace of the Word. John 15:11 says: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” “Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I will also be filled with Your joy.” We must always smile with joy and gratitude when we come to church. Hallelujah! This is because we have joy coming from the Lord. I conducted a wedding ceremony yesterday. There was an episode. The photographer took a picture of the couple with me after the wedding ceremony. The photographer said, “Bride and bridegroom: please smile! The pastor is the only one who is smiling.” So I urged the newly-weds to smile. Sometimes they are too serious and tense on such a big day. So I told them to relax and smile in starting their life together. We must be always joyful and happy in the Lord, giving thanks to God. Fourth, we must live a life of a disciple. We can live a life of a disciple when we remain in the Lord, bear fruit and live by the Word of God. John 15:8 says: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” I want you to be a disciple of Jesus. Who is a disciple? A disciple is one who follows the teaching of his teacher. A disciple tries to imitate his teacher, tries to live in accordance with his teaching, focuses on and listens to his teacher. God gives us a good teacher in His grace when we have the proper attitude of a disciple. The greatest teacher is Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! He will always provide new grace for us when we march forward, trusting and focusing on Jesus with faith. I urge you to imitate Jesus. I want you to become little Jesus. After his conversion, the apostle Paul concentrated on Jesus throughout his life. He confessed as follows. Philippians 3:12 says: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Only Jesus! Only Jesus! I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me! I want you to press on to take hold of Jesus. I want you to be true disciples of the Lord. I want you to imitate Jesus. This world will become beautiful when we all become little Jesus. We must first be transformed. The world can become beautiful only when we are changed. All Christians: Christian politicians, Christian CEOs, Christian professors, Christian doctors, and Christian leaders must first become disciples of Jesus. Only then can this world be made beautiful. Subordinate staff changes accordingly when leaders change. The world remains in confusion and disorder when we have corrupt leaders. Leaders are therefore responsibility for the chaos. Spiritual leaders need to live a life of a disciple. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Hallelujah! All people have their own goals, plans, and dreams. All these things should however be achieved in the Lord and for the glory of God. Our personal thoughts or plans will collapse. On the other hand, in His timing, a holy dream, holy will, holy plan, and holy goals that we have set in the Lord will be fulfilled. All things will work together for our good: whatever we do, wherever we are, whether we are happy or sad, or whether things go well or rough with us; when we give unconditional thanks and glory to the Lord. A past President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, unified and inspired his country by his nation’s success at the 1995 Rugby World Cup game. The story was made into a film called Invictus. It is a biographical film about the dream and miracle of South Africa. Nelson Mandela was released after spending decades in a Robben Island prison and set himself to work immediately to bring about the end of apartheid. In 1994 he was elected as the President of South Africa. Racial tensions from the apartheid era did not completely disappear. So many people had been persecuted and tormented under the country’s dictatorship. The whole country would have fallen into repeated chaos and pain if the victims of apartheid would have taken revenge. Mandela arranged a meeting with the captain of the Springboks rugby team with the knowledge that South Africa was set to host the Rugby World Cup. The message below the surface was: the country would be unified and inspired if the Springboks, the all-white team, could gain the support of non-white South Africans and succeed in the World Cup. The team was weak but Mandela planted a dream in their hearts. In last night’s World Cup soccer game, Ji-Sung Park, the captain of Korea Soccer team, made a goal and became the MVP of the game. Korea won Greece 2 to 1, although Greece was considered a much better team. Hallelujah! Let us give glory to God. Our next opponent Argentina is another of the favorite teams to win. Let us pray that our players will play well and that Christian players will make goals. Korea has been in somewhat of a depression since the bombing of the warship. It is time for us to recover our national spirit. Mandela stood firmly on his belief and encouraged the players. They won every game. They surpassed all expectations, made the finals, and won the World Cup. All South Africans, both black and white, were united. Mandela said, “This is a Rainbow Nation, if we are to forgive and forget - forgiveness starts right here.” The disciples of Jesus must be the first ones to start this movement. We must first practice love and reconciliation. So many people are struggling with each other and living with pain, conflict, and wounds. Do not dwell in vengeance even if you have been hurt. Rather forgive those who have hurt you as disciples of Jesus. I pray that all of us will be reconciled and united. What we desperately need in Korea is forgiveness and reconciliation. We need harmony. We need to be united. All Koreans should, hand in hand, become united with love. Our country will be marvelously united when we hold the North Koreans with the love of the Lord. “Lord, make us into Your true disciples. Fill us with the Holy Spirit and the Word so that we will bear much fruit. Make us Your disciples and faithful servants so that we will change this land.” God will perform marvelous miracles for us when we, in prayer, commit our ways to the Lord. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we thank You for loving us. We thank you for saving us, and letting us bear fruit like a branch which is connected to a vine. Pour Your grace upon us so that we will bear much fruit, remain in Your Word, and live as disciples of Jesus. I pray in the Name of Jesus giving thanks to you. Amen. 2