I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 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. 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. (John 15:1-6)
One of the farthest depths on earth is the field of the riches of God’s word denominated in the scriptures- Genesis to Revelation.
From the old to the New Testament the bible captures the story of creation from inception, the role of man as the focal point or agent of God to tend and manage creation in line with God’s end time purpose for the earth.
In terms of volume, the bible is obviously not the biggest of books, yet it is unique for many reasons. One of such is that it is a prophetic timeline which content had overtime shaped human history more than any other. Besides, its authoritativeness and veracity are laid out not only in the sixty-six books that make it up, but also in the lives of men, women and nations who/which chose to live by the words of God contained therein.
Being the author of wisdom, knowledge and understanding God Almighty consciously and deliberately “hides” the intent and substance of His words in depths far beyond the surface.
In other words, there are more sides to God’s word than one. In simple terms, one side is referred to as ‘the letters’ and the other, the Spirit’. The bible actually warns in this regard, saying; “the letter of God’s word killeth” but the spirit behind “giveth life”.
While it is easy to lay hold of the ‘letters’ of His word, it is not so with the ‘spirit’ behind. The Spirit gives revelation or shed light on the code and unveils the heart of God regarding His word at that point.
Whereas any intelligent personality can explain the outer layer of a biblical passage, it takes a closer relationship with God to understand His voice and His path.
Perhaps one of the reasons God chooses to work this way is that it gives Him opportunity to reveal the “life” (substance) in His word to those who please Him. And these include, for the most part, the humble, the meek at heart, the babe and the suckling (who count no offence nor engage in malice).
More than these however, God, sometimes, leaves certain things un-decoded until He finds the right person or the most appropriate time set by Him.
Being the custodian of the bible and the vanguard of gospel propagation on earth, it is expected that the church of Christ would leave no stone unturned to ensure commitment to the sanctity of God’s words, the fundamental teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, on whom the faith is built and for whom the church exists.
A thorough check up of the church history reveals a consistent deviation from this expectation even from one generation to another.
Christ the true vine
In the book of John chapter15 Jesus Christ said “I am the true vine and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.” In the third verse, Christ said “now ye are clean through the words that I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me and I, in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abides in the vine.”
A number of issues need to be sorted out here.
First, Christ is the true vine.
Secondly, each church or ministry is a branch, and can only bear fruit if it is living or integrated in the vine.
Thirdly, the branch that bears fruit is purged by the Father.
Again, from the scripture it was clear that Christ was aware ahead of time that there could or would be the emergence of “false vine”, otherwise He would have said “He was the vine” and stopped at that. The “true” that qualifies the “vine” has a lot of implications.
One of these is that Christ Jesus did not permit any man, group or body to act or assume the role of a “vine” His (Christ‘s church). Any super-intending influence or regulation of one church by another is contradictory to the principle laid down by Christ as the Head of the church.
In other words, any head-quarters church regulating branches had successfully replaced Christ and therefore, taken the status of ‘the false vine”. This is purely one of the characteristics of the anti-Christ in the church.
The reason being that it kills the “move of faith” and this it had done across generations.
By design and nature, the church of Christ is not an institution but a phenomenon; an essence and not an organization. Once the church is organized, its activities would be also, and by this, the ministry of The Holy Spirit suffers relegation and then side-stepped.
The move of God
From the days of the Great Reformation to the advent of modern Pentecostalism, the church has lost so much to this evil machination. The spiritual steam, energy and vibrancy that usually accompanied great “moves of God” on the earth, often fizzled out as soon as the church leaders set up branches and controlled them from the centre, zone, district or headquarters. The Protestants followed the pattern of the Roman Catholics, so the Baptists, Methodists, Salvation Army, The Evangelicals and the Pentecostals.
Again, let us check it up this way; does each branch of a tree not receive energy directly from the sunlight? Does each branch not emit oxygen and take in carbon-dioxide individually? Is not the same vine that connects all branches to the roots and supply each unit according to its need?
Of the seven churches Christ, the Head, sent assessment reports in the book of Revelation chapter two and three, which of them was a branch of the other?
The Churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyattira, Sardis, Philadephia, and Laodicea were all separate entities, even in the same region, Asia. Christ assessment of one was different from the other. You, as a general overseer, can you assess or evaluate a branch as Christ would? When the branches follow the overseer’s instructions, on what then will Christ evaluate them? This was what Christ observed about the Pharisees.
"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." (Mat 23:13)
He referred to them as standing by the gate of the kingdom; they would not enter and yet prevent those who wish to.
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