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Ye Are the Branches

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(by Andrew Murray)

Everything depends on our being right ourselves in Christ. If I want good apples, I must have a good apple tree; and if I care for the health of the apple tree, the apple tree will give me good apples. And it is just so with our Christian life and work. If our life with Christ be right,all will come right. There may be the need of instruction and suggestion and help and training in the different departments of the work; all that has value. But in the long run, the greatest essential is to have the full life in Christ—in other words, to have Christ in us, working through us. I know how much there often is to disturb us, or to cause anxious questionings; but the Master has such a blessing for every one of us, and such perfect peace and rest, and such joy and strength, if we can only come into, and be kept in, the right attitude toward Him.

I will take my text from the parable of the Vine and the Branches, in John 15:5 KJV: “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” Especially these words: “Ye are the branches.”

What a simple thing it is to be a branch, the branch of a tree, or the branch of a vine! The branch grows out of the vine, or out of the tree, and there it lives and grows, and in due time, bears fruit. It has no responsibility except just to receive from the root and stem sap and nourishment. And if we only by the Holy Spirit knew our relationship to Jesus Christ, our work would be changed into the brightest and most heavenly thing upon earth. Instead of there ever being soul-weariness or exhaustion, our work would be like a new experience, linking us to Jesus as nothing else can. For, alas! is it not often true that our work comes between us and Jesus? What folly! The very work that He has to do in me, and I for Him, I take up in such a way that it separates me from Christ. Many a laborer in the vineyard has complained that he has too much work, and not time for close communion with Jesus, and that his usual work weakens his inclination for prayer, and that his too much intercourse with men darkens the spiritual life. Sad thought, that the bearing of fruit should separate the branch from the vine! That must be because we have looked upon our work as something other than the branch bearing fruit. May God deliver us from every false thought about the Christian life.

Comments

  1. So sad that many Christians attempt to engage in kingdom work under their own power.Fruitless, right? Of course, Jesus warns of this very thing in the text: “apart from me you can do nothing. (15:5b)”

  2. Oh yes, I was curious. Who is the author of this piece? Sounds a little ike Spurgeon, but not quite.

  3. Also, the Lord wants us to be His colabourers…1 Cor 3:9.
    Notice that the vine by itself does not bear fruit. He gave the privilege to the branches.
    The result of branches tapped into the vine must be…FRUITS. That is His purpose for the branches. Otherwise the will be cast away.

    We must also remember Israel and pray for them and not be proud… Paul said clearly in Rom 11-16-21…and concluded… For if God spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest he also spare not thee

  5. Grafted in and living on the vine, producing the best fruit by the help of the Holy Spirit. Time to grow in the son. :>)

  6. I believe that alot of times it’s the, “pruning of the branches” that stops the best fruit from being produced.

  7. Sorry… I didn’t finish that thought.I meant it’s our resistance to the pruning that stops the very best fruit.

  8. Our father has had our studies in the vine and vineyard this week also and that is the unity of the vinedresser, vine and branches that we are to become. Amen ! We are the vine branches and in him, we ourselves are not alone, the vine has many branches all holding it up and when held up, pruned, and trained to remain in a cluster we can bear much fruit, and what glorious fruit we can have. However no fruit can grow unless the branches are healthyand well fed. I love the thought of not having to hold my self up, feed myself, let the roots of the vine provide my water intake, letting the vine dresser prepare my limbs, yes painful prunning at times, but once I yeild and see how well I grow the next season what a beautiful thick branch I become, full of sap,green leaves, and sweet grapes i can produce. Then I am ready each season for my pruning. When we can just rest in him and grow, wow what a beautiful branch we do become. Thanks for the unity brother. Your sis, and fellow branch

    • Hi Donna
      I like your thought, “trained to remain in a cluster.” We are not called to be loners but belong to the Vine and are intricately wrapped up or bundled with others, not losing our individuality but being part of a whole.
      In the natural, I like big bunches of grapes and each one is savoured for its juiciness and freshness.
      Each one of us has the responsibility to draw from the Vine daily. All that we need is in Him – it’s ours for the taking. Of course if we are too lazy or too busy to take what is being offered to us then we become barren and wither.

  9. I find it interesting that all the branches receive the attention of the Vinedresser and are the recipients of His cutting implement. The branches that bear fruit are pruned to bear more and better fruit and the ones that are not bearing are excised and cast away.

  11. There are a couple of more things to consider regarding this subject.
    First. Fruit is not produced by the tree automatically, it takes time. Be patient, grow in faith, and your Vinedresser will provide the most delicious and nutritious fruit imaginable.
    Secondly, the vine does not consume its own fruit. It is an offering for others. Remember that Jesus, our ultimate example, said, “(I) the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Matt. 20:28. Of course, there are also benefits for the one sharing that which he has.
    Lastly, what does a tree look like when it is heavily laden with fruit? The branches hang downward, making the fruit accessible. A humble posture. Do not be puffed up with your growth in Christ. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.” I Peter 5:6.
    In conclusion, I would like to illustrate this by something that happened to me. At the end of my last semester in Bible college, when all of my term papers and finals were completed, I felt that my head was going to burst with all of the knowledge I had received. Standing outside alone, overlooking the beauty of nature, I said, “Lord, what am I going to do with all of this knowledge?”. The Holy Spirit was right there with, “It’s not for you.”

    • Rex, your comment and your testimony are really quite powerful. Thank you for writing that. I am very blessed to have read it, and I will think about it today. It was like a mini-sermon for my soul this morning.

      God bless and keep you! And keep writing! You are good at it!

      Debi

    • Hi Rex! What a great point! Just as you said, we’re to serve others. I think a lot of times we forget to lay down our lives so that others may live.You nailed it when you said,”the vine does not consume its own fruit”,also, I love what you said about the fruit being accessible. As,to what your’re doing with all the knowledge that God has poured into you is simple, just what you said,making yourself an available vessel to be pour out for whoever the VINEDRESSER wants to serve.Is’nt it also interesting that after the fruit is produced that it is gathered to be “crushed” to be turned into wine to fill a vessel.Question…so,is it possible that as we study and receive the knowledge of God that we are the branches extended out, but, the fruit is the knowledge and wisdom that we have learned and received from God?? What say you?? I’ll be waiting for your reply! Beth

      • Beth, due to the content of your question I think you already know the answer.
        The last verse in 2 Peter begins with the instruction to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pt. 2:18). Like growing fruit, this process is ongoing, never ceasing because of the infinite, boundless essence of our Lord. That said, we do initially and eventually acquire knowledge that builds us up while at the same time enables us to share with others that which is beneficial for them. As Jesus said, “He (she) who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers (raging torrents) of living waters ‘” (John 7:38).
        Therefore, like ripened fruit, wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. The outcome of this acquisition is expressed by what the Scripture details as the “fruit of the Spirit is love,” (note the singular subject and verb). Once that fruit has developed, the outflow of that love will be manifested by “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control:” and my favorite part of the verse (which also delineates the plurality of those manifestations), “against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23).
        In conclusion, as mentioned before, under the loving care of our Vinedresser we become knowledgeable branches that produce the tastiest fruit of wisdom and goodness to lovingly share with others, i.e. the good news of the gospel.
        God bless you, Beth.

  13. Rex,
    That is a very good point. We need to share the Gospel with everyone, the fruit reconciliation, the gift of eternal life, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. When we keep it to ourselves, the fruit withers and dies, and then gets pruned.

    May God give us courage in these last days to share the Gospel.

    Blessings to all.

  14. Knowing we’re in Christ gives the confident assureance that He in deed the husbandman of His vineyard, as the tree the rain and storms come but after ward we are cleansed and the roots watered. we need not fear but abide. Glory to God.

  15. Thank you for posting this because it found me right where I am. Seemingly separated from consistent prayer and close communion with Christ because of so much to do in my church, on the job, and in my purpose. My perspective needs to change from trying to do it in my limited strength, to doing it all by the infinite strength and grace of Christ. This was a real blessing and answer to prayer for me.

  16. Sometimes we forget that we are serving God. We try to do God’s job. The only reason we are serving Him is because He selected us to be His. He chose us, not the other way around. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. Doing stuff for the church, or charity trying to help people, doesn’t help us at all if we don’t have a close personal relationship with Him.

  17. Donna, thanks for the reminder that we are not ALONE.

    Rex, thanks for the reminder that our fruit is also FOR OTHERS.

    Notes to BLB:
    Some translations say “I am the TRUE Vine,…” (incl KJV, isn’t it right?

    I think this is key as there are many FALSE VINES on which we can stubbornly cling onto believing we are bearing spiritual fruit. God help us to distinguish and keep rooted only to JESUS!

    Questions:
    I sometimes have trouble separating what is SPIRITUAL FRUIT and WORDLY FRUIT. Of course John 15:5 talks about SPIRITUAL FRUIT, right?

    I guess when we let God bear SPIRITUAL FRUIT through us we will automatically be empowered to produce WORLDY FRUIT…is it right?

  18. I believe the fruit that is produced from staying vitally connected to the vine (Jesus), is the fruit that Galatians 5:23 list…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Read surrounding verses 16- 24, talks about living by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is good fruit from a good tree that is rooted in the goodness of “the Vinedresser”. Making us as believers profoundly different from the rest of the world. It is the goodness of God ( revealed through the body of Christ) that brings a man to repentance. Thus sharing the very heart of Jesus with humanity. Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. His ministry still continues in the branches.

  19. I can’t remember where I was studying about this subject: Jesus being the Branch (the Branch of Jesse). But it makes me pause to think that now we are Jesus’ branches.

    And it is not a heavy responsibility because we are to submit to Him, and respond to Him, and rest in Him and allow Him to shape us and prune us.

    I get immense satisfaction knowing that the only thing I need to control is the paperwork on my desk at work. Jesus has my whole life under His control. And I am grateful for that. I don’t want my life back. He is much better at it. 🙂

    D.

  20. John 15:2 The branch that does not bear fruit HE takes away..
    For many years I thought, was under the impression, was taught that if I wasn’t bearing fruit God would send me to Hell. That simply is not true. On the contrary God loves us. His love and salvation is not based on my works, my bearing fruit; but is based soley on HIM. The words “takes away” mean that HE lifts up, bears up that branch, nurtures it and takes careful care of it till it able to produce fruit. He props up that branch amongst the healthy, fruit bearing branches until that branch is able to produce good fruit.

    That gives me so much hope. Knowing that my FATHER loves me and is not waiting to bonk me on the head with a 2X4 everytime I mess up. He expects the older, wiser saints to hold up, bear up, nurture the weaker saints.

    His mercies are new every morning and His love endures forever.

    Be blessed knowing you are in the palm of His hand.

    K

    • Keroline,It’s not your place to produce the fruit. I believe that that is the Holy Spirits job, our job is to [Romans 8:1]remain in Christ,[plenty of SONSHINE]to be filled with the Spirit[Ephesians5:18]to drink in the [WATER].If the branch won’t recieve the water or sonshine,then it dies.I love what you said about, “takes away”.Jesus does hold us up and nurtures us until the fruit appears.Don’t be so hard on yourself.You are already producing fruit I can see it in what you just wrote. Beth

    • Hi Keroline~

      I read your post, and I have a few comments, but I won’t have them done until later today. I don’t know if you have returned or will return to this dialogue, but I thought I would leave this note just in case.

      Thanks~
      Barbara

    • Keroline~

      After reading your post, I wrote a response rebutting your definition of “takes away” because, to me, it just didn’t harmonize with a study that I had previously done on the context (Jn. 15:1-6). In looking in the BLB concordance for Strong’s and Thayer’s, I found the following: Strong’s (airo, G142) is (generally) “to bear away what has been raised, carry off” and (specifically) “to take off or away what is attached to anything.” The corresponding Thayer’s entry is “to rend away, cut off.” Now, as I read the passage, these definitions most certainly agree, so I couldn’t understand how you came to the conclusion that “takes away” means that “HE lifts up, bears up that branch, nurtures it and takes careful care of it till it [sic] able to produce fruit. He props up that branch amongst the healthy, fruit bearing branches until that branch is able to produce fruit.” I then looked up ‘airo’ in my Strong’s exhaustive concordance and found, pretty much, your exact definition, but I still couldn’t agree that what was written was the truth being put forth in this passage.

      As I went back and forth looking at different things, I noticed something. I don’t know whether you are aware of it, but when someone adds his or her writing into another person’s text, it must be set apart with brackets to distinguish it from the original author’s work, and this is exactly the case with the definition you gave. It wasn’t Strong’s at all. When I went to the publisher’s preface of the concordance, it is noted that Robert P. Kendall provided the “expanded definitions contained in the dictionaries.” I tried to find out some information about him, and if it is the same person, he is vice president of Global Baptist College, Inc. and is a person of great learning and accomplishment. However, as a Baptist, the denomination I attend by the way, he probably holds to the doctrine of eternal security, which would explain the bent of his interpretation. The problem that we face, however, is that his interpretation very much contradicts what is plainly written as I will explain later. As I’m sure you will agree, we are neither to add nor take away from God’s Word, and there is nothing in this biblical text that even suggests his ideas that God lifts up the unfruitful branch until it is able to produce fruit. Now, I do believe that God does, as we press into Him and die to Him, exactly this with each one of us, but that is not the purpose of this passage at all, and we need to be careful that we don’t take a very real biblical truth and falsely apply it in order to force a specific conclusion. Of course, I don’t know for sure if this was his intent at all. I am making quite a few assumptions here, but I do know that when this passage is plainly read as a whole, that there can only be one interpretation, and it won’t be one that implies that believers cannot go to hell because that not only contradicts the passage but the rest of Scripture as well.

      Yes, God is long suffering with us (Num. 14:18, II Pet. 3:9) in the hope that we will allow His will to have its perfect way in us so that we will bear fruit for Him and so we will be vessels of gold worthy to dwell in His heavenly temple, but to take this truth and conclude that hell is out of the picture for believers because He loves them is to not take into account the whole counsel of God (II Tim. 3:16). When the doctrine of salvation is brought up, far too many Christians see their initial salvation into God’s Kingdom as the same act as their final salvation into heaven, and Scripture does not support this view at all. That’s why we are given all the warnings, and that’s why Paul made the point throughout his writings that we must finish the race (I Cor. 9:24). That believers can lose their salvation is one of the most thoroughly documented doctrines in the Bible, and one of the proofs of this is the passage in John 15.

      It is true that our initial salvation and final salvation are “not based upon [our] works,” meaning works of the flesh offered to a holy God as means to gain entrance into His kingdom, just as we are told in Ephesians 2:8-9, but this doesn’t mean, as I understand what you have written, that works play no part in a believer’s salvation because that is the exact truth of the parable of the fig tree (Lk. 13:6-9), James 2:17-26, and John 15:1-6. In this last passage, as you know, Jesus is using the analogy of a vineyard to describe the relationship between believers and Himself. We understand from several references, especially verse 5, that Jesus is “the vine” and believers are “the branches.” In verses 4-5, Jesus says that believers cannot bear fruit unless they abide in Him, but this passage is clear that not all branches do continue to abide in Him and that there are consequences for this separation. In verse 2, He speaks of two types of branches that are “in [Him]” believers who bear fruit and believers who don’t. Those branches that do bear fruit are pruned by God in order to bear more fruit.* Those branches that do not bear fruit are “taken away,” which verse 6 explains as being “…cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.” This isn’t, as you have written, being propped up until there is fruit; this is loss of salvation, a truth that further underscored by the fact that the word “abide,” is used nine times in chapter 15, four times alone in verses four and six as a warning to believers so that they will not be “taken away” and “burned.”

      *David Brown for Jamieson, Fausset and Brown wrote, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit . . . every branch that beareth fruit–As in a fruit tree, some branches may be fruitful, others quite barren, according as there is a vital connection between the branch and the stock, or no vital connection; so the disciples of Christ may be spiritually fruitful or the reverse, according as they are vitally and spiritually connected with Christ, or but externally and mechanically attached to Him. The fruitless He “taketh away” (see on JF & B for Joh 15:6); the fruitful He “purgeth” (cleanseth, pruneth)–stripping it, as the husbandman does, of what is rank ( Mar 4:19 ), “that it may bring forth more fruit”; a process often painful, but no less needful and beneficial than in the natural husbandry. (Jn. 15, BLB).

      I hope that my explanation correctly addressed what you wrote, and I’d like your thoughts on what I’ve written.

      Have a blessed day!

      Your sister in Christ~
      Barbara

  21. Thanks Keroline for your encouragement. I just thought of the grapevines I have in my yard and their leaves. They absorb light from the sun (Son) and through photosynthesis get nourished. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet…and Thy Word is truth…so we must be in the Word also to produce fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.

    • Excellent point Linda…apart from HIm we are nothing, we can do nothing and have no future. In HIm I live, breathe and have my being. It is true…John 1:1 In the begining was the WORD, the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. If we think we can make it through this life without the WORD we are deceiving ourselves.

  22. Thank you Beth…you are correct. It is not my job to produce fruit…it is my job just to be. It’s in that “being” that we so often get lost and begin doing in our own strength.

    Thank you for your gentle reminder…

  23. May the Lord Bless You and Keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you, all my fellow branches, I could see the vine grow and intertwine itself to grow stronger and more fruitful as each one us added a response in the Glory of our Lord. It was a beautiful dance of grace. Our God is alive, our Christ is King, and the outpouring of the Spirit is now. Amen…Father we just ask you to complete our dressing, pruning, and training.in order to be in the plan you created us for. Give us your living water so we never thirst again. Contiue to head our body, and form our clay. In Jesus name Amen. Be Blessed

  24. Please do not forget and remember to consider Romans: 11 in this discourse. As the LORD has shown me, there are branches (believers), trees (Israel and gentile) and a root (Messiah).
    J.