The Vine and the Branches - Paul Washer

In Hosea 14:8, listen to this verse:

"O Ephraim,

what more have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

from Me comes your fruit."

That's what God said to Ephraim.

And it's very important
because the word "Ephraim" -

the name - means fruitfulness.

He named them "fruitfulness,"

but the problem was this tribe

began to think they were the source

of their own fruitfulness.

And God said, "No,

I am the source of all your fruitfulness."

Another thing that this
text teaches us is this:

We must resist the pride
that may spring forth

from fruitfulness.

You know, some progress
in the Christian life

can also be dangerous.

That's why God does not allow us sometimes

to experience all the
progress that we'd hoped for

because it would turn and
work against us in pride.

Because we're too immature

to really be used to bear such fruit.

If you and I are always just pulling off

this Christian life by means of

our pulling ourselves up
by our own bootstraps;

if we are doing this Christian life

in our own power,

then what we are going to see

is a constant state of inconsistency

because we're inconsistent.

We are inconsistent

and that evermore should encourage us

to do what?

To abandon all hope in self

and to draw upon Christ,

to draw upon Christ,

to draw upon Christ

that we might bear consistent,

consistent fruit.

His fruit that He bears in
the life of the believer

will always be a reflection

of His own holiness and righteousness.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,

peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;

against such things there is no law.

Don't you want to be like that?

Well, if you desire to be like that,

you must abandon all hope -

all hope in self,

all hope in secondary means.

And you must run, run, run

to Jesus Christ.

Run to Christ.

All other vines are useless.

All other sources are useless.

Jeremiah 2:13 says,

"For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me,

the fountain of living waters

to hew for themselves cisterns,

broken cisterns that can hold no water."

My dear friend, God will,

through His discipline

as we're going to see in a moment -

work in every one of our lives

destroying not only idols,

but destroying every false source

from which we might attempt to draw.

He will frustrate everything

until we are focused in on Christ

and Christ alone,

the excellencies of Christ,

the finished work of Christ,

the continuing work of Christ,

Christ, Christ, Christ.

All other vines also lead to barrenness.

Jeremiah 17:5-6,

"Thus says the Lord,

'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

and makes flesh his strength.'"

So that doesn't sound like a source

or a fountain or a vine,

oh, my dear friend.

I would say of all things
that men trust in

other than Christ, it is the flesh.

And all sources that are offered to you

is nothing more than a
manifestation of the flesh.

It's not Jesus Christ.

"And makes flesh his strength,

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

For he will be like a bush in the desert

and will not see when prosperity comes,

but will live in stony
wastes in the wilderness,

a land of salt without inhabitant."

My dear friend,

brother and sister in Christ,

I am probably the most appropriate person

in this building to give this message

because I am so prone to
draw strength at times

from things that give
no strength whatsoever.

And even when the devil works -

because God does use the devil -

no, it is for our good.

Absolutely everything is for our good.

The problem is many times we
do not understand the good.

The good isn't big ministries.

The good isn't fame in the Christian life.

The good isn't that after we die,

someone will write a book about us.

The good isn't that we are respected

as the greatest pastor in the world.

The good is that we look like Jesus.

That we look like Christ.

I'm going to say something
that's going to sound

very, very vulgar, very horrid,

but I am going to say it so that
you can grasp the meaning:

that being like Jesus is so important

in God's eyes in Christianity

that one could rightfully say almost

to hell with everything else.

So many times underneath us

are these ulterior motives

that are hellish.

What is the greatest privilege?

To be able to preach like Spurgeon?

No!

To look like Jesus.

When we talk about fruit

we're automatically in
our American mindset

thinking about activity
instead of character,

character, character,

Christlikeness, Christlikeness.

Many times the Lord loves you too much

to give you the things you're praying for

because He wants to give
you something better -

Christlikeness.

Now, if we look at this text, He says,

"Every branch in Me that
does not bear fruit

He takes away."

What does He mean?

Let me just make this statement.

There are men and women, young and old,

in every congregation

who identify with the people of God,

but are unbelieving and fruitless

and when they die,

they will go to hell.

That's exactly what this passage means.

(Incomplete thought)

Let's just look at the church for a moment

as a vineyard.

Within this vineyard, there are some

who they kind of look like branches.

They kind of act a bit like branches

on a superficial level.

But when you really look at them

they are fruitless.

They are unbelieving.

They are not connected to the Vine.

And they will be judged.

They will be torn away.

They will be judged.

They will be cast into hell.

Listen to what Jude says in verse 12.

"These are the men who are hidden reefs

in your love feasts,

and when they feast with you without fear,

caring for themselves,

clouds without water,

carried along by winds,

autumn trees without fruit,

doubly dead, uprooted..."

I have described a great majority

of church membership rolls
all throughout this country.

And we think that we can somehow

cure these men by more discipleship

when the fact of the matter is

they need the Gospel
and they need regeneration.

They eat right with you.

They participate in the supper.

They go to the Lord's Supper.

They participate in the feasts that
you might have afterwards.

All these things.

And you never recognize them.

They're always caring for themselves.

One thing you will notice in
an unconverted person,

selfishness is the greatest -

it is the opposite of love.

All they care about is self.

Let me read you a
passage in Ezekiel 19:12.

Speaking of apostate Israel, it says,

"Its strong branch was torn off

so that it withered;

the fire consumed it."

I don't care how strong your religion is

or how strong your church life is.

I don't care how strong your morality is.

At the day of judgment,
God will tear it down.

Tear it down and it will wilt.

It'll wilt.

Whenever humans declare themselves

to be righteous,

they are doing it by
contrasting themselves

with other humans who are worse.

And you can get away with that,

but when your righteousness

is contrasted with the
righteousness of God,

there is nothing but
to throw yourself down

and declare your morality to be dung.

Believer, here is really the question.

In a type of contemporary Christianity

that makes comfort its goal,

you are going to have to make a decision.

What do you want?

Do you want to bear more fruit?

Or do you want to be comfortable

and just grow wild?

I can remember one time in Peru

prior to having both of my hips replaced.

And arthritis had eaten my hips

to the point of almost not
being able to walk anymore.

Every day was a trial.

Every day was a struggle.

The pain was incredible.

And I walked out on this balcony

one morning in Lima, Peru,

and it was wet and rainy

and the humidity was horrible

and my legs were hurting so bad.

And I had tears running down my face

and I walked out there.

I limped out on the patio

and I looked up at God

and I said, "Why? I hurt so bad."

No, I did not hear a voice,

but I knew exactly what the Lord

wanted to say to me.

"Paul, dear, dear son...

this is exactly what you asked Me for."

And then I remembered all those times

in college after my conversion;

all those times in seminary

when with other believers, you know,

we would pray through the night and say,

"Oh, Lord, anything You have to do, Lord,

to make me like Jesus, do it."

You know, some of you probably:

"Lord, kill me if it's necessary."

And I think He allows us to
pray like that in ignorance

because if we really knew
what we were asking for

we would be too fearful to pray.

Is it your greatest passion

to produce the character of Jesus Christ?

That desire of yours may cost you

absolutely everything.

It may be the reason God never

allows you to go public - become famous.

It might be the reason why
you never get a megachurch.

It might be the reason why you never

see any apparent success.

It might be the reason

for physical ailments.

(Incomplete thought)

Your desire at any cost

to bear goodly fruit,

to be like Jesus Christ

may cost you everything.

But everything's worth it, isn't it?

If fruit - true spiritual fruit -

a reflection of the true
character of Jesus Christ

is the most important thing in your life,

isn't it worth any cost?

It should be worth any cost.

We are talking about
a lifetime of training,

a lifetime of discipline,

a lifetime of pruning,

a lifetime of cutting,

a lifetime of cleansing

up until the day we close our eyes

in this world.

Do you want that?

Well, I can tell you this.

I do...

because I have already gone
through 22 years of it.

And my Master's pruning is sweeter

than all the delicacies
this world can offer me.

It is more loving than all the flattery

this world can offer me.

Here's the prize.

It's not what you think.

The prize is conformity
to the image of Jesus Christ.

The true believer is going to bear fruit.

Do you realize that?

If you are a true believer,

you are going to bear fruit.

You have to bear fruit

because you really are a branch

and you really are connected to the Vine

and you can't do anything but bear fruit.

But the Father comes by

and He prunes you and He disciplines you

and He shapes you and He cuts you

and He ties you and He does everything

He has to do so that
you will bear more fruit.

Discipline will not make you bear fruit.

You are going to bear fruit.

If you are not going to bear fruit,
you are not a believer.

In periods of apparent fruitlessness

we must trust the Lord.

Especially for some of you young fellows

in college or you're going to seminary

and you're just: I want to do something.

Well, be very careful

of that language you're using.

I don't want to do anything anymore.

I want to be something.

I want to be like Jesus.

If I get my ontology right,

everything else is going to fall in place.

Don't concentrate so much
on doing something.

Concentrate on being something.

You know, one of the greatest problems

in Christianity today

and one of the great problems

in Christian ministry or ministers today

is that we no longer believe

there's a need for a hidden season.

Jesus - 30 years

for three years of ministry.

John the Baptist - at least 30 years,

for what? Six months of ministry.

Moses - 80 years of hiddenness

to bear this great
overwhelming fruit of God:

redemption of the people of Israel.

Now we just want to jump
out there, don't we?

We want to do something

instead of waiting to be something.

I can think of times

where God has hidden me in His fold.

And I want to tell you something,

being up in a pulpit,

doing things like that
where everyone can see

is not necessarily the sign

that God's hand is upon you

and that He's going to use you.

But when God calls you
into that hidden place

to be alone with Him,

my friend, that's the sign.

That is the sign.

When He isolates you from everyone else,

He doesn't let anyone touch you.

He doesn't let you walk
down those kind of roads.

He doesn't let you turn the grace of God

into a circus.

He doesn't let you play all those games.

He doesn't let you go to America's

Six Flags over Jesus and ride the rides.

He hides you away.

That's the sign His hand is upon you.

The secret work.

Now, this is not just for ministers.

Some of you have
struggled in the darkness.

Some of you have sat up at night.

Some of you have thought
through your salvation.

You've wrestled with sin.

You've gone through spiritual battles

no one has known about.

You've seen inconsistencies,

impurities in your life
you've had to deal with.

My friend, that is a mark.

That is a mark of God's hand upon you.

A mark of God's hand.

Listen to me very carefully.

There was a time when I knew

I needed to turn my eyes

away from certain things

because I knew it wasn't
pleasurable to God.

Know that.

It's what some of you do.

You see something.

You're attracted to it.

You turn your eyes away

because you know
God's not pleased with it.

I want you to know

there will come a time in your life

when you're not pleased with it either.

That's not being spoken of enough.

Do you think that all our life

we are just going to
have to walk through life

saying, "Well, you know,

I would like to look
at that, but I can't."

No! God's going to do an inner work

in your life and gradually more and more

you're going to come to the point

where you hate the things God hates

and you love the things God loves

more and more and more.

It's really going to happen.

It's really going to happen.

And it's going to continue happening

until the day you go on into glory.

To abide in the Vine is to recognize

this tremendous, supernatural work of God

that has been done in you

and just stay there in in it.

To live in the reality that you have

become united with Christ.

You are a new creature

flowing out of Him.

And flowing out of Him
is this ever flowing

never ending nourishment

called the Holy Spirit -

the divine sap of God.

It's not doing something.

It's recognizing what God has done.

God has made you a part of His Son -

the true Vine -

and He is flowing His power

through that Vine to you, a branch.

You have one purpose:

the fruit that flows from the life

that I will give you.

Don't try to be a brilliant teacher.

Don't try to be a superhero.

Don't try to over here and get some hobby

that takes over you life and consumes you.

I didn't make you for this or that.

I didn't make you for the world.

I didn't make you to impress them.

I didn't make you to do
the things that they do

or to bear the fruit that they bear.

I didn't make you for any of that, Paul.

I made you to bear the fruit

that is within the
context of My will for you

to bring Me pleasure.

One of the greatest truths I ever heard

I heard from Brother Morrow.

I don't even know if you remember this.

But my holistic view of God

was tremendously changed by this.

God does everything for His own glory.

Is that not true? Right?

Why would God plant
the most beautiful rose

that He ever created?

Why would He plant it in a wilderness

that no one will ever pass through?

I mean, why would He do that?
No one will ever see it.

How will He be glorified by it?

I'll tell you how and why.

He did it for Him.

He did it because when He looks down at it

He'll say, "I like this."

I want to tell you something

and this will help you.

I have not mastered this truth.

Don't think I have.

But this truth has been
a great comfort to me.

I want to be that rose

out in the middle of that wilderness.

That's the ambition.

One day, dear friends,

when the kingdom of God comes

in the fullness of its power

and the Son of Man comes

with all the holy angels,

we are going to just be literally shocked

by one major thing that's going to happen.

All these hidden, little,

unknown believers

that were not movers and shakers;

that were not famous;

they were over here just like locked away

in a closet, shut up to God.

They are going to come forth

shining like the sun.

Right now, my little boy,

all he needs is dad.

I mean, he's oblivious literally

to like little buddies and friends

and everything else. It's dad.

Dad, let's go do this.

Everything he does, he looks up: "Dad."

"Did you see this, Dad?"

"Look what I did, Dad."

There will come a day -

and it's a natural course of life -

where he'll want to
show other people stuff.

Now that's a natural course of life.

There's no reason to be
depressed about it or anything.

But, see, in the spiritual realm,

that's never supposed to happen.

It's always supposed to be:

"Look at me, Dad."

"I'm bearing fruit, Dad...

fruit You've given me, Dad.

And it doesn't matter, Dad,

that I'm out here in
the middle of a desert

where no one on the face
of the earth can even see me,

because the only thing that matters to me

is You're pleased."

Again, I want to say something to you.

This has been a great help to me.

This has been a great help to me.

The other day - I want to
give you an example.

I turned. My wife was walking to me.

I turned.

I said something I
shouldn't have said to her.

I mean, it was just a small thing,

but it was something
I should not have said.

It was a tiny thing.

The voice just a little bit
altered in the wrong way.

I mean, it wasn't a violent crime.

And I stopped and I just stood there

based upon this truth.

I stood there and I said,

"This is not me."

That answer I just gave,

that look on my face,

that is not me.

This is not the new creation.

I am not like this

and I'm stopping it right now.

And I turned around and I said,

"Charo, this is not me.

I am a new creature
created in the image of God

in true righteousness and holiness.

I am to be patient and kind

and loving and forgiving.

Forgive me

because I've acted in a way

that conflicts with who I really am.

I will not give into this

because this is not who I am anymore."