Click the link above to listen to the audio of John Message #49. Follow along in the transcript below which is also available for download at www.biblestudyministriesinc.com
I want to share a verse before we go to prayer. It’s actually two verses. The first is Matthew 6:28, “Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin.” The lilies, how they grow, is a picture of resting in the Lord. We’re to grow like the lily, drink in the sunshine, drink in the rain, take from the soil, and they’re beautiful. The other verse is Song 6:3, “I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine. He pastures his flock among the lilies.” I thought that was such a connection. If we have lily-life, we’re resting in the Lord, and He feeds His people among the lilies. So, I think this room is full of lilies, and He wants to feed His people.
Our heavenly Father, we thank You for Your love to shepherd Your people, and You love to feed them among the lilies. We pray that we will understand and trust You for that lily-life, and that we could be more beautiful than Solomon and all his glory. We want to hear from You, and we want to see the Lord Jesus. Thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit; we trust Him to reveal Jesus to us. Thank You that You hear this prayer, and because of our Lord Jesus and His work, You answer our prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
In our gathering together we come always for the same purpose, to behold the Lord Jesus. That’s the purpose of the Bible; it reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. I think you know that we’re in the study of the gospel of John, and where we are is one day before the cross. That’s with the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane; we are one day before the cross. We’ve been focusing on these five chapters as a unit, chapter 13 through chapter 17. He had finished His ministry to the world, and now He was addressing His own. It’s almost like He’s unburdening Himself before He goes to see His Father, before He goes to the cross. He has so much to share, and He couldn’t share it all. We see it in John 16:12, He said, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” In those five chapters, He just pours out His heart, so many things He had to share.
If you were to take those five chapters as a book, the theme of that book would be, “Jesus’ Explanation of the Exchanged Life”. In many different ways in those five chapters He is unburdening Himself; before He dies, He wants you to know that this is how God intends you to live, and He said, “This is how I live, as an example, and now I’m going to say, ‘As the Father sent Me, I send you.’ You are to live the exact same way.” The life He lived in union with His Father, we now live in union with Him. There are many expressions for that life; John calls it “life more abundantly”, and this is the abundant life.
In our introduction to these five chapters, we started by looking at two of the foundational truths. Nothing is more foundational than this; there is no exchanged life apart from these two truths. The first truth is that the Holy Spirit has come to live in our hearts. There is no such thing as an exchanged life apart from the indwelling God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are living inside of us; we are the temple. That’s the first truth, God lives in me, and God lives in you.
The second truth is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that lives in you. Listen to John 15:26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.” The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Christ, to teach us about Christ. In John 16:14&15 we get the same idea, “He will glorify Me, He will take of mine and disclose it to you; all things the Father has are mine. Therefore, I say that He takes of mine and will disclose it to you.” So, the two foundational truths are—#1 The Lord, the Holy Spirit lives in you, and #2 He lives in you to reveal Jesus. John 16:13, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will lead you into all the truth.” Don’t forget, the truth is not abstract. The Truth is a Person. Jesus said, “I’m the Way and the Truth and the Life.” It’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit to lead you into the truth.
As we have said several times, and it’s sort of theological but it’s very important, in God’s revelation of Himself to man, He’s made the Lord Jesus central in the Godhead. In other words, He has called us to look to Jesus. If you see Jesus, then you’ll know God. John 14:6, “I’m the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” To know God, I have to know Jesus. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. I’ve got to know God, and I’ve got to know Jesus. In order to know Jesus, I’ve got to have the Holy Spirit revealing, but it’s all about Jesus. Jesus is in the center; in God’s revelation, He’s made Christ central in the Godhead.
So, the Holy Spirit unveils Christ increasingly to us. That’s His unique ministry. That’s always been His ministry. Sometimes we think just when the Holy Spirit came into my heart, now He’ll reveal Christ. No, that’s always been the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For example, Luke 1:35 when Jesus was born. “The angel answered and said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you; the power of the most high will overshadow you, and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.’” The Holy Spirit was involved in the birth of Christ. And then John 3:34, “He who God has sent speaks the words of God, and He gives the Spirit without measure.” So, all through His ministry the Holy Spirit had a part.
You remember at His baptism, Mark 1:9, “In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth and Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on Him, and a voice came out of heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’” The Spirit has to do with His birth, and had to do with His ministry, and led Him into the wilderness to be tempted, and had to do with His baptism. Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.” The Holy Spirit was involved in the life of Jesus right from the start. Matthew 12:28, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, it came about and has come upon you.” You can’t see Jesus in His ministry without seeing the Holy Spirit. Even on the cross, listen to Hebrews 9:14, “How much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit, offer Himself without blemish to God?” Even on the cross the Holy Spirit had a part. And in His resurrection, Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal body through His Spirit which dwells in you.” Even in His ascension, John 7 we read, “Out of your belly will flow rivers of water,” and then it says, “This He spoke of the Spirit, for those who believed in Him were to receive. The Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” So, He’s even in the ascension, the glorification of Christ.
What I’m trying to say is that the Holy Spirit lives in your heart to reveal Christ; the same Spirit that was at His birth, in His ministry, that was in His temptation, that was in the cross, that was in the resurrection, and that was in the ascension, is always occupied with Jesus. Now, He lives in my heart, and He’s called the Advocate; He is representing the Lord Jesus—His name, His cause, His property. The Holy Spirit lives in me. My advocate is in heaven. That’s Jesus; I’m His client. The Holy Spirit is the advocate of Christ, and He lives inside of me. He doesn’t represent me; He represents Christ, and with a jealous love. We’ve already looked at that, so I’m not going to repeat that.
I gleaned through the five chapters, and I chose what I thought were the five most emphasized truths. They’re foundational truths; you cannot have an exchanged life unless you’re experiencing these five truths. I’ll just mention them again. Number one, illustrated by the foot washing, if you are going to understand the exchanged life, you’ve got to know that Jesus serves you. We think we’re saved to serve; we’re saved to be served in order to serve. The second illustration is the parable of the vine and the branches. If I know the exchanged life, I will be producing fruit through/by abiding in Jesus. If I’m not abiding in Jesus, there is no exchanged life. The third, if I am really experiencing the exchanged life, I will be going forward in holiness, in sanctification, in obedience to the Lord; I’ll be living a holy life. Number four, I will experience real ministry. An awful lot of what man calls ministry is not ministry at all. Jesus explained what true ministry is, and we’ll look at that. And finally, it ends in that wonderful chapter 17. If I’m really entering into the exchanged life, I’ll know what it means to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, and I will enter in and perform in the body, in union with everyone, all in the will of God.
The last time we looked at the first of those revelations. We developed it in the context and departed from the traditional view which has the washing of feet illustrating humility and cleansing. That’s there but that’s not the main point. We looked at the non-traditional view which is based on the Jewish custom of foot washing which is more about hospitality and fellowship, and we looked at that as refreshment, that the Lord will serve us, and we’ll have fellowship, and He will refresh our heart. You remember how difficult it was for Peter to accept that concept. Peter said, “I’ll serve Him, but it seems preposterous that He wants to serve me. It just goes against the grain.” But Jesus said in verse 8, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in Me.” “If you don’t let Me serve you, if you don’t let me refresh you, then there is no intimacy/relationship.” The exchanged life depends upon that.
It’s a radical truth, and you’re going to see as we go through as I point out, every one of these five principles is radical; it goes against the natural heart; it goes against what you would naturally think, and what is, on the level of earth, very logical. It goes all against that human wisdom, but that first one is certainly radical, and the great principle again, and I’m not going to develop it, is that I’m not saved to serve the Lord; I am saved to be served by the Lord in order to serve the Lord. You can’t wash my feet until He washes your feet. I can’t wash your feet until He has washed mine. I can’t refresh you until God has refreshed me. You can’t refresh me until God has refreshed you. This is the wonder of that exchanged life.
Now, if we were to strictly follow the outline, we would now turn to John 15, the vine and the branches, because it’s as necessary for us to abide in the vine to produce fruit as it is to let Him serve us. However, before we look at that second illustration, I’ll introduce it, fruit bearing through abiding, but I want to address first the end of chapter 13 and the beginning of chapter 14. Don’t forget that this was the Last Supper, and they were at the table, some call it Eucharist. This is where they were the day before the cross. One of things we read is that Jesus was very distressed about Judas. John 13:11, “He knew the one who was betraying Him. For this reason He said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’” And then John 13:21, “When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in Spirit, and testified, and said, ‘Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’” That bothered the Lord Jesus. He was troubled because Judas was not a Christian; he was not saved. Jesus was concerned about Judas.
It’s very different when we come to the end of the chapter. John 13:36, “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I go you can’t follow Me now; you will follow later.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not now follow You, right now? I’ll lay down my life for You.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.’” So, Judas is going to betray the Lord; Peter is going to deny the Lord. Those sound an awful lot alike, and the sin looks a lot alike, but there are two differences. Number one, Judas wasn’t a Christian; he wasn’t saved. Peter was saved, so that’s one difference. The second difference, I think Jeus mentioned it in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26:41, “Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Peter had a willing spirit, but his flesh was weak. Judas did not have willing spirit; he had determined to go against the Lord.
The point I want to focus on is that Jesus was very grieved about Judas, but when He mentioned that Peter was going to deny Him, we don’t read about that grief. I’m not suggesting that He wasn’t grieved about that, but it’s not written. To drive home the point, I want to give a little background. The last verse of John 13 is verse 38, and my question is who decided that, who decided that this chapter will end with verse 38? When the Bible was written, were there chapters and verses, except in Psalms? The answer is that there were not. So, the chapter and the divisions are not part of inspiration. That’s not from God; man decided to do that. If fact, it was more than a thousand years after Jesus went to heaven that your Bible had chapters and verses. It was a brainstorm of a priest, Cardinal Hugo. In 1205 he said, “It would be easier if we had chapters and verses; we could locate things. He was contemporary with the Archbishop of Canterbury whose name was Stephen Langton, and he took Hugo’s idea and perfected it. So, since 1227 your Bible has had chapters and verses, the same ones you have, but that’s a long time after Jesus ascended.
The reason I’m bringing this up is because I have no right to judge man’s divisions, but I think some chapters were broken in the wrong place. For example, Acts 21 ends with a comma. Wouldn’t you think you could add another verse? Why would he break a whole chapter at a comma? I call attention to that because I think John 13 should have been connected to John 14 because otherwise it looks like He’s changing the subject, “Do not let your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe, also, in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions…” So, we go from the Lord’s Table, to a word about heaven, “Let’s talk about heaven.” There’s a conversation going on, and I think there is connection. Listen as I read it together. John 13:38, “Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God, and believe, also, in Me.’” What an encouragement for this one who had just heard that he’s going to deny the Lord, and the Lord says, “I know all about you, Peter, and I chose you anyway. You’re going to deny me, but don’t let your heart be troubled. Trust in Me.” I think those chapters could be connected in that way.
Almost everyone looks at John 14:2&3, and thinks of heaven, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places.” The King James Version says mansions. “If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I’ll come again, receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be, also.” I read one commentator who said, “It took the Lord six days to create this universe. He’s been working on my mansion for two thousand years. So, what must my mansion look like, if He’s doing all of that work?” The fact is that when Jesus gave that parable of the sheep and the goats, Matthew 25:34, He said, “Come you who are blessed of My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It’s already been prepared for you. When Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place,” I don’t think He’s saying, “I’m going to heaven to prepare a place for you.” I think He’s saying, “I’m going to the cross to prepare a place for you.” That’s the context; that’s what they’re talking about, but He’s also saying, “I’m going to go to My Father; I’m going to heaven.” These verses can apply to heaven, but I think in the context He’s more applying it to Himself.
For centuries it’s been a blessing to think about dying, a funeral hymn, mansions in heaven. Gospel song writers love that idea, and there are many gospel songs about the street of gold and the mansions up and down the street of gold. I heard one gospel song and he said in the song, “I don’t care if I get a mansion; build me a little cabin in the corner of Gloryland. That’s all I want, just a little cabin in the corner of Gloryland.” But that’s all word pictures. The word is not “mansion”, like we think of a mansion. It’s a dwelling place, an abiding place. How do we get from the conversation to heaven? The answer is in verse 36:13, “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?” See, that takes us to heaven. That’s where He’s going. He’s going to His Father. He said that in verse 1, “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing His hour had come that He would depart out of the world to the Father.” That’s where He is going. Peter says, “I want to go with you; I want to come,” verse 37, “Where are you going? I want to come,” and Jesus said, “Later, you will follow me, but not now.” Then he asks in verse 36, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I’ll lay down my life for You.” So, Peter is very anxious. What I’m saying is that I don’t think this primarily refers to heaven, but I think we can get there, so it’s both; it applies to heaven.
The spiritual significance is that the word “mansion” in the Greek is only used one other time in the whole New Testament. There’s only two times, and it’s in the same chapter, “And Jesus said, ‘My Father and I will come and make our abode,’” our mansion, “’with you.’” So, when He says, “I’ll come again,” is He talking about coming into your heart through the Holy Spirit, or second coming, “I’m coming again.”? Either way, I think there’s application, but what He’s saying is, “I’ve got to go, and you can’t come with Me because My going, my ascension, is very, very important.”
The church as a whole celebrates the history of Jesus. We celebrate Christmas because that’s when He was born, and we celebrate Good Friday because that’s when He died, and we celebrate Easter because that’s when He rose, and then we sort of jump over the ascension, and we celebrate Pentecost because that’s when He sent the Holy Spirit. I feel bad for the ascension because it’s neglected. What is the spiritual significance of the ascension? Jesus died on the cross as your substitute; you died with Him. Jesus was buried as your substitute; you were buried with Him. Jesus rose as your substitute; you rose from the dead with Him.
Let me ask this question, just think about it. If Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again, but He didn’t ascend, what would you know spiritually? What could you be sure of? I could be sure that my sins were gone because He died on the cross, and He forgave my sins, and I can be dead sure that I’m not going to hell, because He took my hell. Would I know that I’m welcome in heaven, if all we had was His death, His resurrection and forever we that knowledge? We know we’re forgiven, we would know that we’re not going to hell, but it’s in the ascension that we rose with Him that we know we’re welcome in heaven. Hebrews 6:19, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us.” The ascension He entered as a forerunner. Now I know He died and that my sins are gone, and because He rose again I’m not going to hell, but now my forerunner went to heaven, and now I know I’m welcome in heaven. That’s the purpose of the ascension.
There’s another verse about the Holy Spirit, also, who is called “the earnest of our inheritance”, and He comes to live inside. So, I know I’m going to heaven because my forerunner is there. John the Baptist was a forerunner; that’s somebody who goes before. So, we’re going to follow; it’s guaranteed. Ephesians 1:13-14, “The Holy Spirit is our down payment.” How do I know I’m going to heaven? My forerunner is there; my head is there, and the body is going, too. We’re going to go to heaven, and the earnest is in my heart; I have the Holy Spirit. John 14:23 is where that word is used, “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he’ll keep My word; My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode,’” same word, our mansion, “’we’ll make our mansion with him.’” So, someone can say, “You have a mansion up in heaven.” Yes, I do, and I also have one in my heart because it’s the Lord; it’s the presence of the Lord. The thing that makes heaven heaven is Jesus, and the thing that makes life heaven on earth is Jesus. It’s Him, and He’s come to give us this mansion. So, both are true.
Peter wanted to go where Jesus was going, and Jesus said, “Where I’m going there is plenty of room. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, many rooms. Not only is there room for you, Peter, but room for the other ten, not only room for them, but everyone who believes after them, and not only that, listen to Revelations 7:9, “I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, all tribes, peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, palm branches in their hands, and they cry out with a loud voice saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.’” “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, enough room for everybody.”
But My Father’s house to the Jewish mind was the temple, “That’s My Father’s house.” The tabernacle/temple is all a picture. “In My Father’s house,” He’s talking about dwelling in the Lord Himself. When you go to heaven, according to the picture, and these are only descriptions, just word pictures, there’s one throne, and there’s one tree, and there’s one street, and there’s one river, and there’s one house. There’re not many houses. There’s one mansion, “My Father’s house.” It’s family; that’s the idea. It’s a picture that we’re all together. Maybe you can think of every room as a mansion, but we’re all in one house. Revelation 21:22, and here’s the reality, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple.” There’s no temple in heaven; it’s the reality. God Almighty is the temple, and the Lamb is the temple, and I’m in the temple, and He’s in Me, and it’s our dwelling place. There’s many rooms. How many millions of people will be in the Father’s house.
Let me make one more observation. How many saints have been blessed by John 14:1-3, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare, I’m coming again…” how many people have been blessed by that? I’ve been blessed by that. I’ve heard many funerals on that. I’ve been totally blessed by those verses. If Peter hadn’t longed, “Let me go with you,” and if Jesus hadn’t said, “You’re going to deny Me,” we would miss out on those truths. Praise God that Peter asked that question, so that we could get these wonderful verses. We would never have those verses if Peter didn’t make that expression. I can’t go too far on that because I’d almost want to thank God that Adam sinned, and I can’t go there, but it’s so exciting because of that, and we thank the Lord.
Let’s return to Jesus’ explanation of the exchanged life. We come to John 15, the parable of the vine and the branches. Just as there could be no exchanged life unless we allow Him to serve us, to minister to us, to bless us and refresh us, so now it’s impossible that we have an exchanged life if we don’t abide in Him for what is described as fruit. We’ve got to abide in Him to be productive. Is this a parable, the vine and the branches? Is this an allegory, the vine and the branches? Is this a similitude, the vine and branches? I don’t care. It’s a great picture of a great, great truth. Let me introduce you to it now.
As the first principle I suggested was radical, and goes against the grain, and goes against my heart to let the God of heaven and earth serve me, and is repulsive, and only the Holy Spirit can allow that to happen; you’ve got to trust Him for that, just so, He’s now going to introduce a second shocking truth. To the Jewish ear this is shocking. It’s stated in the first five words of John 15:1, “I am the true vine.” You see, we’re tempted to read that la, la, la. Wuest in his expanded translation translates it this way, “In contradistinction to anyone else, I am the vine, the genuine vine.”
Commentators spend a lot of time focusing on why Jesus all of a sudden decided to tell a story about a vine. They have all kinds of theories and say, “Well, they’re in the Upper Room and the vines we’re growing by the window, and Jesus glanced at the window and said, ‘Ah, there’s a good illustration.’” Some say, “Well, no, they just had the Lord’s Table, and there’s wine at the table, and that’s what suggested it.” Others go to John 14:31, “Get up and let us go from here,” and now they’re on their way out to Gethsemane, and they went by many vines, and that brought it to His mind. I don’t know; that could have been true. But I think He told the parable of the vine and the branches because in His heart it was beating hot to explain the exchanged life, and there could be no better explanation than using this symbolism of the vine and the branches. He was contrasting, “I am the true vine,” with false vines, all false vines, “I am the genuine vine.”
Why was that a shock to them to hear Jesus say, “I am the true vine.”? Why did that go against their theology? Why did that absolutely destroy their thinking? The answer is because for four thousand years they were taught in the Bible that they were the vine. Psalm 80:8, “You removed the vine from Egypt. You drove out the nations and you planted it. You cleared the ground before it. It took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with it’s shadow. The seers of God with it’s boughs, it was sending out it’s branches to the sea, and it’s shoots to the river.” “We are the vine—Israel, the people of God, the chosen.” Verse 14, same chapter, “Oh God of Hosts, turn again now, we beseech You, and look down from heaven, and see and take care of this vine, even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, and on the son whom You strengthened for Yourself.” Israel was the vine. Isaiah 5:1&2, “Let me sing, now, for my well beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug all around it and removed its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and also hewed out a wine vat in it, and then he expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless grapes.” Isaiah 5:7, “The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, the men of Judah, His delightful plant. He looked for justice, behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, behold, a cry of distress.” Jeremiah 2:21, “I planted you a choice vine, a completely faithful seed. How, then, have you turned yourself before Me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?”
The idea that the nation of Israel for four thousand years, if anybody said, “In the Bible there’s a picture, a vine.” They would say, “Yes, that’s us; we are the vine.” That symbol was everywhere. Over the temple door they had a great ornament of a vine, and Josephus, the historian, tells us that the clusters of grapes were each the size of a man. “We are the vine.” I don’t know if you are familiar with Markel Dodds, the commentator, but he said, “On their coins they had a vine because, ‘We are the vine.’” That’s how they looked at it.. Hosea 10:1, “Israel is a luxurious vine; he produces fruit for himself.” That’s an interesting verse. All the references of the vine and the fruit of the vine, it’s not just the word “vine” but all through the Old Testament there are stories about the vine. For example, Numbers 13 in the Promised Land, and remember that they went in and they got grapes and it took two men to carry one cluster of grapes? That’s them. In Psalm 104, natural joy, “Wine makes glad the heart of man,” and they said, “Yeah, that’s Israel; we’re going to bring joy.” The New Covenant, we put new wine in old skins; it’s talking about the New Covenant. And for security, they used to camp under the vine; it’s talking about safety, and so on. Marriage is pictured in Psalm 128, “My wife is like a fruitful vine.” The love of God, that’s how the book of Song begins, “His love is better than wine.” Every time they saw wine or a grape or heaven, “I’m not going to drink wine again until we get to the kingdom.” Everything, Israel said, “That’s us. You want wine, you want happiness, you want joy, and you want a good marriage, we are the vine.” And in that moment when Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and you’re not the vine; you are the branches,” that destroyed their theology. That absolutely turned them upside down.
Why did God give the law? According to Galatians 3:24, “The law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Paul said in Romans 7, “I was once alive apart from the law. When the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died.” He gave the perfect law to show them that they couldn’t do it. So now, why did God choose a vine, and say, “Israel, you’re My vine.”? He gives the answer in Ezekiel 15. I always need memory aids these days, so John 15/Ezekiel 15, the vine/the vine, and that helps me. Ezekiel 15:1-3, “Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than the wood of any branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything? Can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?” What is the wood of the vine good for? Can you make a table? Can you make a chair? Can you make a cabinet out of a vine?” He said, “I chose the vine because it’s worthless; you can’t use it to make anything.”
My stepdad worked with wood. I called him up, and said, “You work with wood. Tell me what you can make out of a vine?” He said, “I’ll get back to you,” and he did. He called me back. He said two things that he could think of. One was a wreath. That makes sense. You can make a wreath out of a vine. The other one, he said was a whistle; you could take a piece of the vine and make a whistle. I didn’t see him do that, but he told me that.
So, God says, “I’ve chosen the vine on purpose because it’s worthless, just like the law to show you that you can’t do it, the vine to show you that you can’t produce, but you didn’t get it. Even though I said it, you didn’t get it. So, then He says, “I had to go to great measures.” Listen to Ezekiel 15:5, “Behold, while it’s in tact, it’s not made into anything. How much less when the fire has consumed it, it’s charred, can it still be made into anything?” In the context He said, “I’m going to send you into captivity and I’m going to burn you.” If a vine is worthless, what good is a burnt vine? The principle, brothers and sisters, is so clear. God wants us to know that He’s the vine, and we are not the vine. He’s the vine, and if we don’t learn that, He will let us burn out. He said, “I will burn you, until you finally…”
In 1965 I burned out; I crashed. It’s a long story and you don’t need to hear it, but it was all over in 1965 because I thought that I was the vine, and I kept failing and failing. I tried to serve the Lord, and I kept sinning, and my life was a mess, but I was honest, I was earnest, and I wanted it right, but I thought that I was the vine. I kept trying and trying, and God had to finally bring me to the place where I was burned out, and I finally discovered that when God brought a dear brother into my life to pick up the pieces. I was a mess. He told me, “God never intended you to this. He’s the vine.”
So, we come back to that powerful statement of the Lord, and so radical and so shocking, “I must serve you or you have no place with Me.” Wow, that’s shocking, and now He says, “I am the vine, and you are not the vine, and you never will be the vine, and if you think you are the vine, you’re going to fail, and someday you are going to burn out trying to be the vine.” God wanted them to see that He was the true vine. Isaiah 5:7, “The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His delightful plant; He looked for justice, and behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, behold, a cry of distress.” The very foundation of the exchanged life is so simple; it’s Him, and it’s not me; it’s Him, and it’s not you. He is the stem, He is the root, He’s the leave, He’s the tendril, He’s the bud, He’s the grape; He’s everything. He is all in all, and my only hope for production is to find my place as a branch. We’re going to be looking into that in our next lesson.
Listen to verse 4&5, “Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abides in the vine, and so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” That’s the exchanged life; His life flowing through me.
Let me close with a personal illustration. I did this twice. Some years ago, I saw a shepherd taking care of his sheep. So, I stopped my car and went out to talk to the shepherd because I wanted some light on shepherds and sheep. Well, just so, I drove by a vineyard, and there was a man with a hat on, and he was working in the vines. So, I stopped my car, and he had broken English. I think he came from Italy; I don’t know where he came from, but he was working in the vineyard. I told him that I was a Christian and that I was studying the Bible, and God said that He’s the vine and I’m the branch. I asked him, “How can you help me?” He looked at me very puzzled, and I said, “Do you understand my question?” He said, “Yes, but it’s not true.” I said, “What not true?” He said, “You said that God is the vine and you are the branch. That can’t be.” I said, “Why?” He said, “It’s because a vine doesn’t have branches; a vine branches, but it doesn’t have branches.” That was interesting because it’s so one. You can break a limb off a tree, but you can’t break the vine because they’re connected; they’re one. I think that’s all part of this illustration; I in you and you in Me, and we’re one. We need to look more into the vine and branches and see the relationship. Lord willing, next time we’ll continue this. For today I wanted you to see the introduction, and I hope we all get it. I’m not insulting anybody; I’m setting you free. You’re not the vine, and I’m not the vine. You’ll never be the vine, and I’ll never be the vine, but there is glorious hope if you take your place as a branch and abide in the vine, and the life of that vine flows through you, and you produce fruit. That’s the exchanged life, and nothing else is.