FAMOUS PASSAGES
VINE AND THE BRANCHES
DR. JIM DIXON
NOVEMBER 10, 1991
JOHN 15:1-8
This past Monday morning on my day off, I went down into the basement of our house to do a little exercise. I turned on the TV down there, and I was flipping through the channels. I came upon Geraldo Rivera, and I decided to watch it because I like to see the discussion of important and critical issues discussed by competent people of integrity. And they had a panel of people including a leader in the Ku Klux Klan and other members of the KKK, as well as some additional people who were part of some white supremacy groups. It was fascinating. It is very obvious that the KKK is trying to put on a whole new face and develop a whole new image here in America, and the people from the KKK said that they were no longer a white supremacy group. They no longer believed in hating anybody. They admitted that at one time the KKK had been a white supremacy group, and they admitted that at one time the KKK had perpetrated horrible atrocities on black people and on Jewish people. But they said this was in the past, and they said people should not judge them today on the basis of what the KKK did in the past any more than people should judge Christians today by what Christians did during the time of the crusades when Christians persecuted so many Jews and Arabs.
They said that people ought to evaluate them today on the basis of what their views are today, and they said today, we don’t believe in hating anybody. We just want to love our race. We want to take pride in our racial heritage. And these people from the KKK obviously were concerned about the white race and what’s happening to it in the world. They claim that the white race now comprises only 7% of the Earth’s population. Only 7% of the people in the world are white according to them, and I don’t know whether that’s true or not. And they said the white race is now only producing 2% of the world’s babies, 2% so that the white race is becoming a smaller and smaller minority on the earth. They seem to be extremely concerned that the white race is going to go the way of the dodo bird or the dinosaur.
They said the white race is the only race that doesn’t have a homeland in this world. They said that there are 33 black nations on the earth with 33 black governments officially established as black governments. And that’s all right with everybody. They say there are 13 Arab nations on the earth with Arab governments. Nobody complains. They say that there are oriental nations with oriental governments and Hispanic nations with Hispanic governments and there is of course a Jewish nation with an officially constituted Jewish government. But they said no homeland for whites, and they said even here in America, the white race now comprises less than 50% of the American population. And the percentage of people in America who are white is becoming a smaller and smaller percentage. They say that it’s okay for other races to have pride in their race, but the white race is the only race where people aren’t allowed to be proud of their race. It’s okay to speak of black pride. It’s okay to speak of Indian pride and Hispanic pride, but you can’t speak of white pride because that’s bigotry and racism. And they said they were indignant, and they said they just want to love their race without hating anybody else. And they want to live to serve and exalt the race of which they are a part.
Now I don’t know how you feel about that. I would imagine there’s a variety of feelings in this sanctuary right now. It might depend in part on whether you’re white or black or Hispanic, but there are a variety of feelings. You might think, well there’s some valid points there, or you might think, that’s horrible. I must say I think it’s tragic. I think it’s tragic that we live in a world where people live to promote their race. I think it’s tragic if black people live primarily to serve black people or Hispanic people live to promote Hispanics or white people to promote white people. I think it is tragic that all over this world there are people going to bed at night thinking about their race and how they can promote their race and exalt their race.
Yet biblically for us as Christians, there is a sense in which we are called to exalt and serve a race, but it is not a race that is based on blood or color. In fact, it is a race that consists of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It is a race that includes people of all colors, red and yellow, black and white. You might think, well maybe it’s the human race, but it is not. The Bible does not tell us as Christians that we should live to exalt the human race, but there is a race the Bible tells us we must serve in the Bible. The Greek word for race is the word “genos.” It’s the word from which we get the word genealogy. It’s a word which comes from another Greek word that means “birth.” The word genos is the word that’s used throughout the Bible for race, but it’s used to describe any people that have a common origin. And the Bible speaks of the people of God as a race. The Bible speaks of the people of Christ as a race. The Bible speaks of the church as a heavenly race, as a group of people with a common origin and that origin is Christ. And these people have been regenerated by the power of the spirit of Jesus Christ. Born not of earth, but born from above. A people called by the name of Christ and called out of this world.
There’s a sense in which as Christians, the Bible tells us, we are to live to serve this heavenly race. All earthly races are invited to join a heavenly race, the community of believers. And you might think, well, it’s okay for pastors to live to serve the church. It’s okay for pastors to live to serve this heavenly people. It’s okay for pastors to live to serve the people of God and the people of Christ, but that doesn’t need to be your primary purpose in this world. And you would be wrong because, biblically, everyone who is called by the name of Jesus Christ must live primarily to serve the church and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. “Seek first My kingdom.” You might not be a minister in a church, but if you believe in Jesus Christ, biblically, you’re a minister. Every one of you who believe in Jesus Christ is called to minister in this world. It doesn’t matter what your career is. It doesn’t matter what your sex is. It doesn’t matter what your color is. If you belong to this heavenly race called the kingdom of Jesus Christ then you are called to serve that kingdom above all else.
In a sense, this is what the whole teaching on the vine and the branches is all about. You see, in biblical times the symbol of the people of God was the vine and the vineyard, the symbol of this heavenly race. The vine and the vineyard and this heavenly people are meant to grow in this world. The kingdom of Christ is meant to grow on the earth. The vine is meant to bear fruit. Each and every one of you are called to be part of that kingdom’s growth, part of the vineyard’s growth. Each and every one of you are called to bear fruit for this heavenly community and servant.
The assumption is that when you read this teaching of Christ that you’re going to say, I want to bear fruit (if you’re a Christian), and it is not talking about how to bear fruit for yourself or how to be productive for your career. This passage is talking about bearing fruit and being productive for the kingdom of Jesus Christ and the heavenly community.
Now in this passage there are three simple concepts. And the first concept concerns power. If you would be productive for the heavenly community, if you would be productive for the kingdom of Jesus Christ and for the people of Christ, you must have power. Now, you might have already the power to serve an earthly race, but it wouldn’t be proper. God wants you to understand, apart from Jesus Christ, you have no power to serve this heavenly race. No power. “Apart from Me,” Jesus Christ said, “you can do nothing.” You have no ability, no power to serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Now in the 1960s the Egyptians built the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The structure included a 12-turbine hydroelectric plant capable of producing 12 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. And at the dedication of this Aswan High Dam in 1971, the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdul Nasser, pushed the button that started the power generation plant, and power went forth throughout Egypt. But the power that lit homes all over Egypt that night didn’t come from the finger of President Nasser. It came from the 200 billion cubic yards of water that was stored in the dam. President Nasser just pushed the button.
Now it’s critical that we understand we’re just button pushers. I mean it’s absolutely critical if we’re going to serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ and the community of Christ, if we’re going to be fruitful and productive for the church of Jesus Christ in this world, it’s critical that we understand that He has the power. He is the source of power. All we do is push buttons. It’s always been that way for the people of God. I mean Moses raised his hand and the sea parted, but Moses was just a button pusher. He didn’t have any power. We’re told how Joshua led the children of God to surround the city of Jericho. And they marched around that fortress city of Jericho and blew their trumpets, and the great walls of that fortress city just crumbled down. But the power that brought those walls to ruin was not in Joshua or in those people. They were just button pushers.
You go to the New Testament and you see in the book of Acts how the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul worked miracles in serving the kingdom. They even raised the dead, but they were just button pushers. The power came from Christ.
I read in the paper this week how Billy Graham is going to South America, and next week they think he will speak to a cumulative total of 300,000 people. Throughout Billy Graham’s life and ministry, Billy Graham has spoken to millions and millions of people, and he has led literally hundreds of thousands of men and women to faith in Jesus Christ. But he’s just a button pusher. The truth is Billy Graham doesn’t have the power to lead a single person to Jesus Christ. He doesn’t have the power to bear fruit for the kingdom. Just a button push.
Our elders have gathered in the rooms back here in the hallway by my office, and we’ve prayed for people because our elders love you and our elders love Jesus Christ. When you call up and you say you want the elders to pray for you and you’re really hurting and there’s just a real critical situation in your life—maybe it’s a disease that you feel is terminal, and you want the elders of the church to come and pray—we pray. We gather around, and we pray over you. And as we look back on the years, we’ve had times where we have seen power go forth, and we have seen healing. We’ve had actually times when we’ve seen miracles—not as many times as we would like, but there have been times when we have seen miracles. And yet the elders of this church are just button pushers. They don’t have power. Christ has power and each and every one of you who believe in the name of Jesus Christ, you’ve had times when you’ve prayed and perhaps times when you’ve seen great things happen. But you know, hopefully they’re just a button pusher and will never bear fruit for the kingdom of Jesus Christ until we recognize that He has the power, and apart from Him we can do nothing. The power comes from the vine.
The second thought in this passage concerns love. How do we push the button? I mean, if you really want to bear fruit for the kingdom of heaven, if you really want to bear fruit for the community of Christ and for the church of Christ, if you want to bear fruit in this world and the power belongs to Christ and we just push the buttons, how do we push the buttons?
This passage of scripture says love is the key. Now you know, if you’ve read this passage of scripture and you’ve studied it, how our Lord Jesus said, “You must abide in Me.” He that doesn’t abide in the vine can do nothing, can bear no fruit. The problem is Christians read that and they don’t know what it means to abide. They know that abiding is somehow the key, but they don’t know what abiding means. Some Christians do word studies of the Greek word “minnow,” which is translated to abide, and they still don’t understand. But the truth is, when we examine the passage, there’s a lot of information in the passage that explains what Jesus means by abide. He says, “As the Father has loved Me, even so I have loved you. Abide in My love.” See, somehow the power which flows from the vine to the branches only is released when we learn to abide in His love. If you’re a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you had some point in your life where in some measure you began to abide in His love.
Some of you have heard of Francis Joseph Thompson. Francis Joseph Thompson was born in 1859, born in Preston, England, and when he was 11 years old, he decided to study and prepare for the priesthood. Now Francis Thompson longed to know God, and he was seeking after God and hadn’t found God. But he thought perhaps if I’ve become a priest I will experience God, and I will somehow know God. So, he studied for the priesthood for 6 years, from age 11 to age 17. And in that time, in that period of history, it was not uncommon for people of that age to prepare for the priesthood. But at age 17 he gave up because he realized in his quest for holiness how unholy he was. And he realized how sinful he was and how not only his actions but certainly his thoughts were so often corrupt, and he felt like he was just a failure. He still hadn’t found God or experienced God.
He left the preparation for the priesthood, and he decided to become a medical doctor because he thought, you know, God would certainly be pleased with me if I were to become a medical doctor because medical doctors serve people. God would like that, surely. Maybe if I become a medical doctor, through serving people, I will somehow experience God and find God. And so, he began to prepare for a medical career, and he entered medical school and spent years on that.
Francis Thompson failed again for a multiplicity of reasons, and finally, he just gave up. In fact, in 1885, at the age of 26, Francis Thompson said, “I’m going to give up on God. I’m not going to search after him or seek him anymore. It just seems hopeless.” He left his family, and he began to take opium. He began to just drop out, and he became an opium addict and a cocaine addict. And he began to live just a tragic life, a life of abject poverty.
Then after a few years passed, someone came to him and explained to him the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he heard and understood, perhaps for the first time, the love of God, the gospel. “God loved the world. He gave His only begotten Son. Whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” And suddenly he realized that God was seeking him, and God was in this quest for him, and that Jesus Christ loved him not because he was holy or because he was a priest, not because he was a medical doctor or because he was serving a million people, but Jesus Christ just loved him just the way he was. Even as a cocaine addict, even as an opium addict, even as a person living in the gutter and poverty, just as he was, Jesus Christ loved him with this amazing unconditional love. He just had this moment when, touched by the Holy Spirit, he embraced the love of Jesus Christ, gave his heart to Christ, and just responded to that love that made no sense.
Suddenly power came into his life—power to defeat opium and power to defeat cocaine. And he became, of course, one of the greatest poets in English history, and he wrote that poem that I think many of you have heard of, the poem called The Hound of Heaven, where he portrays Jesus Christ as the hound of heaven, relentlessly pursuing the souls of men and women over the face of the earth in His love.
You had a point, if you’re a Christian, where the Holy Spirit touched you and you felt the Lord seeking you, drawing you, tugging for you. And you became aware in some measure that He loved you unconditionally—not because you’d done anything great, not because you looked a certain way, not because you behaved a certain way. He just loved you as you were, and you gave your heart to Christ as Lord and Savior.
The problem is, I think as time goes by, sometimes we forget that first love. And when we forget that first love and we cease to marvel at the incredible love with which Jesus loves us, we lose power. It’s only as we bask in His love and embrace His mercy and grace and just bask in His love that there’s power in us. And the power goes forth not only to change us, but to minister to people around us. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I’m a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I have prophetic powers and I understand all knowledge and all faith and I have all faith so has to remove mountains, but have not love, I’m nothing. If I give away all that I have to the poor and deliver my body to be burned but have not love, I accomplish nothing.”
Do you want to be productive for the kingdom of Jesus Christ? Do you want to serve this heavenly people? The only way to push the button that releases the power is to begin to abide in His love. And I think sometimes as Christians, we fall back into a theology of works, and we begin to think we can earn God’s love through dead works. There’s no power there. When we cease to marvel as little children at the love of Jesus, we lose power.
Well, there’s a final concept in this passage on the vine and the branches, and it concerns obedience. There’s another button that must be pushed if we’re going to release fully the power of God for ministry and for productivity in the bearing of fruit. There is a certain relinquishment which we must come to, reflected in obedience, if God’s power is going to be fully manifested in us. And the scripture of the vine and the branches teaches that.
I mean Jesus said, “You’ve already been pruned. You’ve already been made clean by the Word, which I have spoken to you.” And He goes on to say, “Abide in the Word and let My words abide in you.” I mean, there’s a certain relinquishment to the Word in our life and its authority in our life. If the power’s going to flow from the vine to the branches, we need to submit to the word and abide in it. It doesn’t mean simply reading the Bible or even memorizing the Bible. It requires a relinquishment to the word and obedience. And that’s why in this passage Jesus said, “As the Father loved Me, even so I have loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. In another place, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you’ll keep My commandments.”
So, as you abide in His love and as you bask in His love, it’s meant to produce obedience to His word and the power comes. The problem with so much of the church of Jesus Christ in this fallen world is it is so disobedient, so unsurrendered (if that’s a word) that there is no power. The church has lost power.
Some of you follow baseball. Others of you, even if you don’t follow baseball, you might know a little bit about it. If I were to ask you what baseball player was the fastest pitcher in the history of baseball, there might be various answers given. I think some of you might say Nolan Ryan. Some of you might mention somebody else, but there’s a lot of so-called experts in the baseball world who tell us that the fastest pitcher in the history of baseball was a man named Steve Dalkowski. Now Steve Dalkowski pitched for Stockton for a while in the old California league, and he actually was incredibly fast. In fact, one year he struck out 272 batters in 170 innings. And that’s incredible, because that works out to 14 strikeouts a game, and 14 strikeouts a game is amazing. This guy had blinding speed with his fastball.
Now the tragic thing was that this man, also that year, walked 272 batters, and that’s also incredible. I mean, he walked 14 batters a game, and you see, Steve Dalkowski’s problem was he had a lot of power, but he didn’t have any control. He just didn’t have control. In fact, this man’s control was so bad that one game he pitched a one-hitter and a one-hitter’s great, right? He pitched a one-hitter, and lost the game 9-8. Now, to lose a game, 9-8, you got to really be wild with a one hitter.
You see, the Baltimore Orioles wanted to bring Steve Dalkowski up to the big league. He was in the farm system. They knew he had incredible, blinding speed and great power but no control. So, they built this apparatus, a frame with a hole in the middle of it the size of a strike zone, and they built this frame to be incredibly sturdy because they knew his power. It was 6 feet of solid wood on the right side of the opening, 6 feet of solid wood on the left side of the opening. There was wood 2 feet above and 2 feet below, and there was an opening in the middle the size of a strike zone. And it is a fact that Steve Dalkowski annihilated the frame trying to find the hole. He annihilated it there. And you know, you won’t find the name of Steve Dalkowski in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, he never made the major leagues, never made the big time because he didn’t have any control.
See, Jesus Christ has unlimited power, but He doesn’t want to release His power in vessels that are out of control. And the problem with so much of the community of Christ today is everybody’s just out of control. He wants to release His power in vessels that are relinquished to His Word. You know, the Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth. And that Greek word that’s translated meek means power under control. Power under control.
See, Billy Graham, decades ago at Forest Home Christian Conference Center in California, knelt in a wood cabin with Henrietta Mears and a few others. He had already accepted Christ, but he realized he wasn’t sold out. And he said, “Lord Jesus, I want to live for you. I want to be clay in the hands of the Potter. I want to go where You want me to go, do what You want me to do, Lord Jesus. Your will is my command.” And as he relinquished his life, the power came. The power came to bear fruit for the kingdom, the community, and the heavenly community of Jesus Christ.
And you know, that’s the point the Lord wants us to come to in this fallen world. I know many of you have been watching the news this week, reading newspapers, and you know the tragedy of Magic Johnson and how he announced this week that he has tested positive for HIV, the AIDS virus. And I’ve got to say I think Magic Johnson is perhaps the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen. I’ve never seen such incredible skill, almost majesty, on the court, and the fact that he won’t be playing basketball anymore saddens me. I also think Magic Johnson is just a genuinely wonderful person. I mean, I really do. I think he’s a truly kind, friendly person. His smile is real, and it’s not fake. He loves people. But I’ve really grieved this week as I’ve seen this announcement made and then the decision that Magic Johnson has made to go out and tell the world that safe sex is the way to go. I’ve really grieved because it’s a tragic message for a fallen world.
How tragic it is that kids, boys and girls all over America, have a hero figure who’s going to go out and tell them safe sex is the way to go. Now I know, I mean, I know that it’s a fallen world, and I know that there are people out there that are going to use sex for recreation. And certainly, I will admit that people who are out there using sex for recreation, if they’ve got a brain in their head, they better use some protection. I know that’s true, but I also know what the Bible tells us that outside of marriage there’s no such thing as safe sex. And if you’re single, if you’re a man or a woman and you’re not married, the message of scripture is not practice safe sex, but practice no sex.
And the message to our generation is no different than the message to every generation of Christians throughout history. The cross we’ve been called to bear is no different than the cross Christians have always been called to bear. Other generations of Christians have walked and lived faithfully. And why can’t we? How tragic it is.
The culture in which we live is so fallen, we have to compromise. Judeo-Christian values seem to be a thing of the past, but you who believe in Jesus Christ and you who have joined this heavenly race, whatever your color, you’ve been called to a higher standard to let His word abide in you and to abide in His word. And if you love Him, to keep his commandments. We’re called to be different from the world. We’re aliens, the exiles on the earth. The church without power is a tragic thing. And if the church at the end of the 20th century is going to have power, and the church needs to realize that we are just button pushers, that the power is only released as we abide in His love and as we are relinquished to His word.
Let’s close with a word of prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your kingdom. You are King of Kings, You are Lord of Lord, and You have all power in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, Lord. Apart from You, Lord Jesus, we can do nothing. But what a privilege it is for us as men and women of different races, different ages, to be able to enter Your kingdom and Lord Jesus, to be part of this heavenly community, born from above, our home in heaven and we are strangers, aliens, exiles on this earth. Lord, You’ve called us to serve You, to serve Your kingdom that the vine of Your kingdom might grow through productive branches. You’ve told us that You have the power.
And Lord, You’ve told us that unless we abide in Your Word and abide in Your love, the power will never be manifested in us. Lord, help us to stand with You and be used of You. And Lord Jesus, if there’s anyone here today, any person here today who’s never joined Your heavenly people—anyone, Lord Jesus, of any color, of any age, of any sex, who’s never joined Your kingdom and entered Your heavenly family—I pray that by Your Holy Spirit in this moment, You might draw them. They might say, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Thank You for loving me just as I am. Be my savior from sin. Be the Lord of my life. I want to live for You.” You have all power. Reveal your power. Manifest your power in me. Help me to abide in your love and submit to your word. We pray these things Lord Jesus, in Your great and matchless name. Amen.