We have the striking analogy of our Lord likening Himself to "the true vine" (John 15:1-8), in contrast to Israel, likened to a vine planted by Jehovah, yet producing no fruit for God. Read Psa. 80:8-19, and you will see how the vine of responsibility (Israel) failed entirely, and how in verse 17 of that Psalm all hope for the future is centered in Christ, "Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand, upon the Son of Man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself."
We find the fulfillment of this prophetic utterance in John 15:1-8, where the Lord presents Himself as " the true vine," and His disciples as the branches. The whole analogy is full of comfort, and yet there seems the tendency on the part of many to extract doubts and fears, where God puts none. Indeed, our Lord tells us, "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL." (John 15:11). If we extract doubts and fears from this passage of Scripture, it is because we have misunderstood and misapplied it.
In the matter of Israel as the unfruitful vine, the branches had to furnish the fruit to the vine, and not the vine to the branches, for Israel was put under the law, which demanded a response, but furnished no power to satisfy its claims. In the case of the true vine, it is the blessed Lord, who furnishes the sap and strength and vitality that are needed. Not only so, but the Father is the Husbandman, or Cultivator. This brings out the teaching that the "purging" of the branches, in other words the hand of the Father in wise and loving discipline, is to the end that the branch, the believer, might bear more fruit. We read,
"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." (John 15:8). What then is the secret of fruit-bearing? It flows from the branch abiding in the vine, from the believer abiding in Christ.
To abide in Christ is the mark of the true believer. To be a professed branch, yet to have no vital connection with the vine, to be lifeless, that is without life, is the analogy of the mere professor. The worthless branch is cast forth, withered and burned. The mere professor, one who makes an empty profession of abiding in Christ, will meet his doom when the books are opened at the Great White Throne, and, in the unutterably solemn words of Scripture, the lake of fire for eternity will be his doom. Judas Iscariot among the apostles, may well stand as an example and a warning of the branch that did not abide in the vine, which never had this vital connection.
May each reader only extract joy out of our Lord's words, and not doubts and fears that a true believer may fall away and be lost forever. To have all our fullness in Christ, a fullness which can never fail us, to have the Father's hand " purging " the branches, in wise and loving discipline in cutting out the dead wood, retarding growth and fruitfulness, thus helping us to a deep reality, to abide in Christ, should indeed fill the true believer with fullness of joy.