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Sermon Outline:
“I Am The True Vine” Abiding Fruit – The Perseverance of the Saints (John 15:1-11)
Sermon Text:
John 15:1-11
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 does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Sermon Notes:
Thinking Biblically to Live Holy
“I Am The True Vine”
Abiding Fruit – The Perseverance of the Saints
The 7 “I am” Statements:
1. “I AM the bread of life” John 6:35, 48, 41
2. “I AM the light of the world” John 8:12; 9:5
3. “I AM the door of the sheep” John 10:7, 9
4. “I AM the good shepherd” John 10:11, 14
5. “I AM the resurrection and the life” John 11:25
6. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6
7. “I AM the true vine” John 15:1
The vine created and constituted as it is, that it might be a fit representation of Christ and His people bringing forth fruit to God.
“I am the true vine” (John 15:1). This word “true” is found in several other designations and descriptions of the Lord Jesus. He is the “true Light” (John 1:9). He is the “true bread” (John 6:32). He is “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:2). The usage of this adjective in the verses just quoted help to determine its force. It is not true in opposition to that which is false; but Christ was the perfect, essential, and enduring reality, of which other lights were but faint reflections, and of which other bread and another tabernacle were but the types and shadows.
More specifically, Christ was the true light in contrast from His forerunner, John, who was but a “lantern” (John 5:35), or light-bearer. Christ was “the true bread” as contrasted from the manna, which the fathers did eat in the wilderness and died. He was a minister of “the true tabernacle” in contrast from the one Moses made, which was “the example and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5). –A.W. Pink
