PARABLE OF THE TRUE VINE

[Albert Finch]

John 15:1-11 - "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. 4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5 [b]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples. 9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. 10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing." - The Amplified Bible

John 15:1,2,4 - "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of Me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more...Make your home in Me just as I do in you.....When you're joined with Me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant." - (The Message Bible)

God must show us the great darkness we are in when our soul tries to find its ultimate happiness, consolation, and security in this world.
It is the cleansing, purging work of God to take out this "flaw." He oversees the soul through many hardships, and through times when it feels dry and lifeless.
God shows us the great darkness we are in when our soul tries to find spiritual nourishment and where there is no life.
As God's Spirit cultivates His new type of life in us, the only envy we will experience is a longing to be more like those who exhibit human obedience to Christ. And He uproots our old sluggishness and complaining about obeying God, when it means passing up comforts and pleasures.
For He has revealed the endless crop of boredom we will harvest when we base life on pleasure-seeking -- instead of seeking His PURPOSE FOR OUR LIFE, sowing acts of goodness and love for a harvest of eternal life.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

The word "communion" has to do with communication – Jesus speaks and we listen, then we speak and He listens. Thus, when we enter into "communion" with Jesus and become "one" with Him, as being a "branch" that is properly attached to the "vine," we are able to partake of His life.

Jesus said that He is the "Vine" (Tree of Life), and that we, as being a branch, only have life as we partake of His life. Through Adam's transgression, we were removed from our connection to the Tree of Life, and became attached to the tree of knowledge.

Therefore, each one of us was born attached to the tree of knowledge. Through the total victory that Jesus gained in our behalf on the Cross, we can detach ourselves from the tree of knowledge and re-attach ourselves to the Tree of Life. Then as we "partake of communion," we receive the very life of Jesus flowing directly into us.

If we partake of communion as being a symbol or emblem, we are partaking of a dead religious form. Jesus is no longer dead, but He was resurrected from death and has ascended to the throne to be seated on the right hand of His Father. Thus, the bread is living bread turned into His living body. The cup, the fruit of the vine, turned into His blood, is His living Blood. As we partake, His life is being imparted into us, so He can live His life through us.

If a strip of bark is totally cut around a tree and removed, the process of death will begin. The tree can no longer receive the life that is drawn up from the root system, and will soon die. So also, the life of the "Vine" (Jesus) is to flow into us, as being a "branch" that is attached to the "Vine." For this to take place, the branch (us) must be properly connected to the vine. Only then can the life of Jesus, as being the "power of an endless life," flow into us.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hidden with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up.

The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian, we look for a Christian temper, disposition, and life.

We must honor God, and do good; this is bearing fruit. The unfruitful are taken away. And even fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have notions, passions, and humors, that require to be taken away, which Christ has promised to forward the sanctification of believers, they will be thankful, for them. The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in what is good, the more our Lord is glorified. In order to fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must have union with him by faith.

It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon Christ, and communion with him. True Christians find by experience, that any interruption in the exercise of their faith, causes holy affections to decline, their corruptions to revive, and their comforts to droop. Those who abide not in Christ, though they may flourish for a while in outward profession, yet come to nothing.

The fire is the fittest place for withered branches; they are good for nothing else. Let us seek to live more simply on the fulness of Christ, and to grow more fruitful in every good word and work, so may our joy in Him and in his salvation be full. - Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary