From Delayed Broadcast of Fellowship Service in Bagan Batu
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 15:1
15:1. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
It is one of the appearances of Jesus. There are many appearances of Jesus in the Bible such as: "I am the bread of life", "I am the light of the world", et cetera. All of the appearances of Jesus are for us.
For example, "I am the bread of life" means that Jesus takes care of our life physically and spiritually. He becomes the light of the world, so we become the light of the world too and we are worthy to greet Him when He comes a second time on the glorious clouds.
Why does Jesus have to die as the true vine?
That is why God appears as the true vine to justify men in the world, so we are set free from Satan and sins as well as the ruin or perdition.
Jesus as the true vine gives three kinds of righteousness as follows:
God blesses us.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 15:1
15:1. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
It is one of the appearances of Jesus. There are many appearances of Jesus in the Bible such as: "I am the bread of life", "I am the light of the world", et cetera. All of the appearances of Jesus are for us.
For example, "I am the bread of life" means that Jesus takes care of our life physically and spiritually. He becomes the light of the world, so we become the light of the world too and we are worthy to greet Him when He comes a second time on the glorious clouds.
Why does Jesus have to die as the true vine?
- Jesus must die as the true vine because Satan who controls the world is the source of sin, untruth, and the peak of sins.
John 8:44
8:44. "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. - All men are under sin, so there is none who is righteous and afraid of God.
Romans 3:9-18
3:9. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
3:10. As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
3:11. There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
3:12. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
3:13. "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips";
3:14. "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
3:15. "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
3:16. Destruction and misery are in their ways;
3:17. And the way of peace they have not known."
3:18. "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
That is why God appears as the true vine to justify men in the world, so we are set free from Satan and sins as well as the ruin or perdition.
Jesus as the true vine gives three kinds of righteousness as follows:
- The righteousness of the forgiveness from sin.
Romans 3:23-24
3:23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
3:24. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
When Adam and Eve sinned, they became naked and ashamed, so they were driven out of Eden and cast to the world.
Consequently, all have sinned up to the peak, so they become naked and there is no shame. Men labor and become heavy laden. If it continues, they will be destroyed forever.
All great things in the world such as intelligence, riches, and position cannot save the sinner, even they trigger the sin. All people including the religious men have sinned, so they cannot save themselves how much more the others.
There is no way from the world to finish the sin.
That is why, the way out comes from heaven. Jesus must come from heaven to the world. He is the only innocent man but He must die on the cross to finish the sins and cover the nakedness of the sinners.
John 19:23-24
19:23. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.
19:24. They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
On the cross, Jesus was willingly stripped to give two things as follows:- The garments that was divided into four parts. It refers to the garments of righteousness or salvation for all people in the four corners of the world, including us the Gentiles.
The process of receiving the salvation or righteousness is as follows:- Believing in Jesus as the only Savior by hearing the gospel word of good news.
- Repenting, namely stopping sinning and returning to God.
- The true water baptism because of the will of God and we are baptized as Jesus is.
Matthew 3:15
3:15. But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
Romans 6:2,4
6:2. Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
6:4. Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The true water baptism means that one who has died to sin or repented must be buried in the water with Jesus and come out or rise from water with Him to receive new life, so the heavens are opened and he receives the heavenly life or the fullness of Holy Spirit.
We live in righteousness. Living in righteousness is the same as being saved and blessed by God.
- Believing in Jesus as the only Savior by hearing the gospel word of good news.
- The clothing that was cast lots. It refers to the robe of service or tunic of many colors.
If we live in righteousness, we will be appointed to become the instrument of righteousness or the priest and king. We serve and minister to God faithfully and correctly, so He makes all things good in His time.
- The garments that was divided into four parts. It refers to the garments of righteousness or salvation for all people in the four corners of the world, including us the Gentiles.
- The righteousness in the true teaching word.
Jesus as the true vine means that He is the Head.
John 1:1,14
1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus as the Head is the true teaching word who becomes flesh. It is the same as the Bride Tidings that preaches Jesus' second coming in the glory as the Head, King of kings, and heavenly Bridegroom to purify saved people up to being perfect and ready to greet His second coming.
The characteristics of the true teaching word are as follows:- Being written in the bible.
- Being revealed by God through one verse that explains the other verses in the Holy Bible.
The verse is the word of Jesus. It is explained by the other verses that are the word of God. So, all of the word is Jesus' own word.
13:10. Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."
13:11. For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean."
What must be washed or purified? The following sins of Judas Iscariot must be purified:- A thief.
- Pretense or hypocrisy.
At Gethsemane, Judas Iscariot kissed Jesus while others fled. He just pretended in order to sell Jesus. - A liar.
Matthew 26:23,25
26:23. He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.
26:25. Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it." - An accuser or one who likes to judge and blame others even God.
- A traitor.
Luke 6:16
6:16. Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor
It means that one does not minister to God faithfully. It is the same as selling Jesus.
Psalm 137:1-2
137:1. By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.
137:2. We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
Being unfaithful is the same as hanging the harp.
Acts 1:18,20
1:18. (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.
1:20. "For it is written in the book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it';and, 'Let another take his office.'
Consequently, the ministry is taken by others. Judas hanged himself, so all his entrails gushed out. His life decayed up to perdition forever.
Revelation 19:8
19:8. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. - Being written in the bible.
- The righteousness in the happiness.
Many people including the servants of God misinterpret the happiness, so they try to find it with the wrong ways.
For example, one feels happy when he has much money, so he looks for money in illegal ways.
Consequently, he is cursed and destroyed forever.
That is why Jesus appears as the true vine.
We receive the heavenly bliss through the winepress. It refers to the sprinkling of blood, namely suffering in the flesh with Jesus or without any sin.
For example, we do the fasting prayer, all night-long prayer, and being blamed although we are not wrong.
1 Peter 4:12-14
4:12. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
4:13. but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
4:14. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
God allows us to experience the sprinkle of blood, so we can receive the Spirit of glory that is able to give the heavenly bliss and change us from fleshly men to spiritual ones like Jesus.
Revelation 21:11
21:11. having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
The renewal of life starts from being honest, believing, and being obedient, and physical miracle will happen too.
John 21:3-4
21:3. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.
21:4. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
If fathers are honest and believing, God will help them in their work.
Mark 7:27-29
7:27. But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."
7:28. And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."
7:29. Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."
If mothers are honest and believing, God will help their marriage and children.
John 11:39-40
11:39. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."
11:40. Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"
If a young man is honest and believing, the decay will be changed into fragrance and failure becomes success.
We will be changed continually until we become as glorious as God is when He comes a second time and we enter the city of glory, namely the New Jerusalem.
God blesses us.