Pruning The Apple Trees 2/6/2016

Good Morning,

I awoke later than usual this fine morning. This is a very strange happening for me. Our dog Gibbs didn't bother to wake us up. I think Gibbs knew somehow that he would be outside with me all day as well as hunting pheasants tomorrow. He must have been storing up energy. Rene is still out snoring just a little. Fine day, with a odd start. So my Door County Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Coffee is just about brewed and my first cup is rather late.

Today, although this should have been done in the fall, I need to prune and remove some branches from the apple trees in our yard. Although some of the branches will flower, they just do not produce fruit. They are also in a position to choke off the sun light to the faithful fruit producing branches.

John 15:1-8New International Version (NIV)

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

The metaphor in John 15 is of a vine and its branches. The vine is the source and sustenance of life for the branches, and the branches must abide in the vine to live and bear fruit. Jesus, of course, is the vine, and the branches are people. While it is obvious the fruit-bearing branches represent true Christians, the identity of the fruitless ones is in question and needs explanation. So here we go.

In this passage he disciples were with Jesus. He had loved them to the uttermost; He had comforted them with the words in John chapter 14. The Father was foremost in His thoughts, because He was thinking of the events of the next day. But He was also aware of someone else--the betrayer. Judas had been dismissed from the fellowship when he rejected Jesus' final appeal of love.
All the characters of the drama were in the mind of Jesus. He saw the eleven, whom He loved deeply. He was aware of the Father, with whom He shared an infinite love. And He must have grieved over Judas, whom He also loved unconditionally.
All those characters play a part in Jesus' metaphor. The vine is Christ; the vinedresser is the Father. The fruit-bearing branches represent the eleven and all true disciples of the church age. The fruitless branches represent Judas and all those who never were true disciples.
Jesus had long been aware of the difference between Judas and the eleven. After washing the disciples' feet, He said, "'He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.' For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, 'Not all of you are clean'" John 13:10-11. Once a person is forgiven by God, he is clean and does not need the bathing of forgiveness again. All that is necessary is to clean the dust and dirt of daily sins from his feet.
His point was that a child of God who commits a sin doesn't need to be saved again; he needs only to restore his personal relationship with the Father. But Judas had not even been "bathed," because he was not a child of God, and Jesus knew it. That is why He added, "not all of you are clean." Judas appeared to be like the other disciples. He was with Jesus for the same amount of time--he had even been given the responsibility of keeping the money. It appeared that he was a branch in the vine like the others--but he never bore real fruit. God finally removed that branch from the vine, and it was burned.
Some would say he had lost his salvation. According to them, the same could happen to any believer who does not bear fruit. But Jesus made a promise to His children, "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand" John 10:28. He guaranteed the security of the child of God: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" John 6:37. A true believer cannot lose his salvation and be condemned to hell. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
A branch that is truly connected to the vine is secure and will never be removed. But one that only appears to be connected--one that has only a superficial connection--will be removed. If it does not have the life of the vine flowing through it, it will bear no fruit. Those are the Judas-branches.
There are people who, like Judas, appear by human perception to be united with Christ, but they are apostates doomed to hell. They may attend church, know all the right answers, and go through religious motions; but God will remove them, and they will be burned. Others, like the eleven, are genuinely connected to the vine and bear fruit. But from time to time they are pruned to produce more fruit. ( Corrected, restrained and guided)
 Looking forward to apple sauce this fall and spiritual fruit soon.

God Bless,

Marty