The Word

The Word

Vol. 9 No. 3

January 17, 2010

Upper Room Discourse

John 15:1-2

Logistical Grace

In John 15:1 we next have, “the true vine”, which transliterated from the Greek is “HE AMPELOS HE ALETHINE”.

HE is the article “the” in the Nominative, Feminine, Singular. AMPELOS is a noun also in the Nominative Case, Feminine, Singular that means “grapevine” or simple a “vine.” HE ALETHINE is the article “the” plus the Predicate Adjective which are also in the in the Nominative, Feminine, Singular of ALETHINOS that means, “Real, genuine, true, or sometimes dependable.” Here in the predicate position it tells us what is predicated of or asserted about the vine; it is true, real, genuine, etc. So instead of saying “the vine the true”, we say, “the true vine.”

The use of ALETHINE tells us that Jesus is the original and only vine from which the branches (believers) grow. He is the origin and source of the believer’s life, and the believer’s ability to produce anything of lasting value and glory to God.

Christ began His life as prophesized in Isa 53:2 as “a root out of parched ground.” Read Isa 53:1-12. Yet, that same root became the vine from which branches (believers) grow because of His completed work on the Cross and the Word which He left for us. He is the believer’s spiritual food.

“In the O.T. the vineyard is used as an illustration of the nation Israel (Psa 80:8; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21). Isaiah complains of Israel’s turning into a wild vineyard, Jeremiah complains that the vine has turned into a degenerate plant, and Hosea cries about Israel’s being an empty vine. To His disciples who are acquainted with those situations, Jesus offers Himself as the contrasting true and genuine vine.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Then we have, “and My Father is the vinedresser”, which is “KAI HO PATER MOU HO GEORGOS ESTIN.”

KAI is the conjunction for “and”. HO to the Nominiative Masculine Singular article “the” which is not translated here. PATER is the Nominiative Singular for “Father”, referencing God the Father. Remember, Jesus did not have a human father. MOU is the Genitive, First Person Personal Pronoun of EGO that means “of me” or we would say, “My”. This is a Genitive of Relationship where Jesus is talking about His Father. HO is again the article “the”, this time translated. GEORGOS is in the Nominative, Masculine, Singular, and means “farmer, tenant farmer, vine-dresser”. It means the farmer, cultivator of the soil, the one who does the planning, the planting, the cultivating and the harvesting. The KJV uses “husbandman” that means the same. It is used here to represent God the Father.

This word is used in three other ways in the New Testament.

1) In an earlier Parable by our Lord where it represented Israel as rejecting God’s prophets, culminating in their rejection of His Son. Mat 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19.

2) Also in 2 Tim 2:6 in regard to the believer who produces divine good; he will be rewarded, “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”

3) Also in James 5:7-8 the believer is to wait patiently for the Rapture of the Church, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. ⁸You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.”

ESTIN is the next word and is a verb in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person Singular of EIMI that means “to be, exist, is, etc.” This tells us one of the roles that the Father performs. The Gnomic Present Tense is for a timeless general fact. The Father has been, is, and will always be, the Vinedresser. The Active Voice says that the Father is the landowner-farmer, who cares for the branches of His vineyard (Church Age believers). The Indicative Mood is for the fact of reality. This is who the Father is. He owns the vineyard and tends it; He is vitally interested in its outcome and cares He for it.

Our complete translation of verse 1 is; “I AM the True Vine and My Father (has been), is (and will always be) the Vinedresser.”

This leads us to understand how our Father cares and provides for the Church Age believer.

Doctrine of Logistical Grace.

1. The basis for logistical grace is Divine integrity. Logistical grace is then imputed through God’s grace pipeline. Phil 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs (logistical grace support) according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God will never run out of riches to support you. “Riches” refer to God's integrity and virtue.

2. Logistical grace includes three factors.

a. Life Support is provided for every Church Age believer. This explains how and why we are alive every moment. The only reason we are alive is because of logistical grace. We do not earn or deserve it; there's no work we can accomplish to keep ourselves alive.

b. Blessing, the things necessary to sustain us (food, clothing, shelter). They are provided for every Church Age believer, both winners and losers. This dramatizes the justice of God, in that the justice of God sends life support and blessing to the indwelling righteousness of God in both winners and losers. This emphasizes grace. You are alive only because of the grace of God, not because of anything you do. Winners utilize logistical grace, losers coast on it, but never truly utilize it.

c. Divine provision for every Church Age believer to execute the Plan of God. All doctrine comes from the prepared Pastor-Teacher. If you have persistent positive volition, you will find doctrine and your right Pastor-Teacher who will feed you the spiritual food necessary for your growth and production.

3. The Biblical definition of logistical grace is found in 2 Cor 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having a sufficiency in everything (logistical grace support), you may have an abundance for every good deed (good of intrinsic value production).” Read 2 Cor 9:6-11.

4. The Biblical rationale for Logistical Grace is found in Mat 6:25‑34.

5. Logistical grace includes six categories of support.

a. Life-sustaining support is provided by God. God sustains the life of every believer on earth. No believer can depart from life apart from God's will. Therefore, all the forces of hell cannot remove one believer apart from God's permission. God also provides all that it takes to support life. Psa 48:14, “This God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death.” See also Lam 3:20-25.

b. Temporal needs such as food, shelter, clothing, transportation, environment, time, a job, etc. are provided by God. Mat 6:25-33; Phil 4:19.

c. Security provision is taught in the doctrine of Eternal Security. Your security is from God. This includes the assignment of guardian angels, and the provision of the laws of Divine establishment for freedom to advance to maturity. If positive to Bible doctrine, God provides the security for you to make that advance, as in the wall of fire, Zech 2:5. 1 Peter 1:5, “We are kept by the power of God.”

d. Spiritual riches are provided by God, such as our Portfolio of Invisible Assets, the Ten Problem Solving Devices, and the unique factors of the Church Age. It also includes the provision of doctrinal teaching from your right Pastor, privacy and security necessary to maintain positive volition, the Royal Family Honor Code, and discernment to see distractions and set them aside. Spiritual provision of an Evangelist, a Pastor, and the privacy of your priesthood, the canon, and a local church are all provided for you. Eph 1:3, “WW “ ho has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.”

e. Blessings are given to every believer, both winners and losers. These are not to be confused with escrow blessings which are far greater.

f. God preserves us from death. Heb 2:14; Psa 33:18; 56:13; 116:8

Psa 33:18, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear (respect) Him, on those who wait for His lovingkindness (grace) to deliver their soul from death, and to keep alive in famine (depression).”

Psa 56:13, “For you have delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, that I may walk with God in the light of life.” To walk with God in the light of life means you know about logistical grace so that you appreciate it and therefore utilize it.

6. Logistical Grace is designed to not only sustain the believer but to allow you to advance in the spiritual life. 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow by means of (logistical) grace even the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

7. God’s grace includes divine discipline when in Reversionism and suffering for blessing when in spiritual adulthood, John 5:26, 8; 2 Cor 12:9; Lam 3:20-25. 2 Cor 12:9, “Then He assured me, ‘My grace (logistical grace) has been and still is sufficient for you. For the power is achieved with weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may reside in me.”

So we understand God’s logistical grace and His purpose for it. This is noted further in John 15:2 where we see the inter-workings of the Father to bring about the best possible production from every believer. In verse 2 we understand the work of God and in verses 5b and 6 we understand why God works differently in each believer’s life.

John 15:2, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit..”

John 15:5b, “he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Warren Weirsbe stated regarding this parable, “It is important to remember that not everything in a parable must mean something. A parable teaches one main truth, and to try to make a parable “stand on all four legs” is often the first step toward misinterpretation. The main truth Christ is teaching in this parable is the importance of abiding in Him in order to bear fruit. The word “fruit” is used six times, and “abide” at least fifteen times (but it is not always translated “abide”). The main point of the teaching here is fellowship, not sonship.”

Even though logistical grace is given to all believers, for those who utilize His grace in positive volition and divine good production, He continues to shape and mold them into more effective and efficient vessels. Yet for those who possess negative volition He ultimately removes so that the strong healthy branches (those with positive volition) can better grow.

Let’s look closer at verse 2, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

PAN is an Adjective in the Accusative case, Neuter, Singular of PAS that means “all or every”. This tells us that there is no partiality with God. He treats all negative believers the same and He treats all positive believers the same. His treatment is not based on your personality or good looks it is based on the Justice and Righteousness of God and His Grace Pipeline either for discipline or blessings. KLEMA is a Noun in the Accusative, Neuter, Singular that means “a tender and flexible branch, the shoot or branch of a vine, a vine sprout, or branch”. This is allegory for the Church Age believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that He is talking about believers because of the following phrase “in Me”. The unbeliever is not “in Christ”, only the believer is. As such, we know that this verse is only addressing believers. Therefore, salvation and the Lake of Fire are not in view, as also signified by verse 3, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

All of the participants in the Upper Room were “clean”, (i.e. believers), except for one as noted in John 13:10, “Jesus said to him, ‘He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you (i.e. Judas Iscariot who was an unbeliever).’”

“Branch” connotes a number of things.

a) Relationship with the Vine. When we believe in Jesus Christ we have relationship with Him, we are in union with Him, just as the branch is in union with the vine.

b) Productivity. The productivity for the Church Age must come from the believer who is on the earth. The Vine is in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. The believers are the conductors of productivity.

EN is the Dative Preposition that means “in”. EMOI is the First Person, Singular, Pronoun in the Dative case that means “I or Me”. Jesus is referring to Himself (the True Vine) and the union that every believer has with Him regardless of whether the believer is positive or negative towards their relationship with Christ.

Therefore, every branch is in the Vine and this is our basic relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the branches in the Vine are of two types. We are all in union with Christ but we fall into different categories spiritually. Here we have the first category of believers; those who are negative towards Christ post salvation, the believer “that does not bear fruit”.

ME is the Greek negative “not” used with non-indicative verbs. We will say “that does not” indicating action not performed. PHERON is a Verb in the Present, Active, Participle, Accusative, Neuter, Singular of PHERO that means “to bear, carry, or bring forth.” The Customary Present Tense is for action that regularly occurs or an ongoing state. So this is not just a one time “non production”. It is ongoing non-production. The regular life style of the Cosmic believer. The Active Voice tells us the reversionistic cosmic believer does not produce divine good. The Participle reinforces the Customary Present as a state of being in reversionism. KARPON is a Noun also in the Accusative case, but in the Masculine, Singular of KARPOS that means “fruit.” It can also mean “grain; harvest; result, outcome; deed, action; return, gain, advantage; tribute, praise (of the lips); offspring (Luke 1:42) or descendant (Acts 2:30).” In the Accusative it is referring back to the object of the sentence, the branch / believer and in this case the believer who does not bear or bring forth fruit – divine good production.

If you would like more information on this subject,

you may listen to lessons 10-003 and 10-004.

Property of:

Grace Fellowship Church, Pastor James H. Rickard

James H. Rickard Bible Ministries ã