Topic: The Vine
Text: John 15:1-16

A tree with luxuriant branches is beautiful to behold. There is life in the branches for as long as they remain attached to the tree. Cut off the branches from the trunk and you have nothing but firewood. When you come across a real child of God you will behold the glory of God in him or her. But when the same believer departs from grace, he becomes reduced to a “fire-wood”. My prayer for you is that may nothing separate you from the love of God. Without God there is very little or nothing we can do.

As a matter of fact a man without Christ is practically useless. This is why Jesus said, in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.” Any man who does not have Christ is zero. Any branch that is not attached to the vine will end up as firewood. This is what Jesus Christ said in John 15:6 “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” If anyone has been separated from Jesus Christ and he fails to return to him fast, such a person risks hell fire.

When a Christian changes for the worse, he or she becomes not just an unbeliever but also a backslider. The devil does not joke with backsliders. A backslider is an easy target for the devil; as such a person no longer has the power of God with him. This gives the devil the opportunity to retaliate, especially if he had been a chief tormentor of the devil.

In I Samuel 16:14, the Bible tells us that the moment the Spirit of God left King Saul, an evil spirit came to torment him. Here was a man who had prophesied before and people respected him for this. God thereafter departed from him. He lost touch with God and the enemy tormented him. Remember, you remain a flourishing branch only when you are in constant fellowship with the Lord.

Memory Verse: John 15:16 - “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.”