Remain in... (full)

Intro:

When I started looking at preaching this sermon the word the came to mind was remain and I had some different ideas of what I wanted to talk about then I do tonight. At first I thought this was a means of saying that we need to remain in Christ in order to stay protected, which is true but all of it. Now I’m quite certain we are talking about the blessing we are called to be as sons of the promise (Romans 4:13-25). Just like Abraham who was called out of His people we are also called out to be a blessing by remaining in the care and attention of our heavenly father and fed by our loving savour and now friend, Jesus. So let me start off by telling you the truth… God wants to produce fruit in you! And he isn’t a fan of cling-on’s.

Read verses: John 15:1-17

Clarifying the verses and their function.

v. 1-8 – Giving an illustration to the point that we need to remain in Jesus

v. 9-17 – Giving specific instruction to the reader.

Explanation of verse 3. Explanation of being grafted into the vine… and the rootstock

For the Jew, they were given Jesus,

For the gentile, They were grafted in. (verse 3) (also, Romans 11:17-24)

- In the vine world, A bud is cut out of a stem and placed into the rootstock of the vine.

Why a vine?

The history of the vine in the Bible

Psalms 80:7-8, 14-17

Isaiah 5:1-7

- God was looking for people to be his example of blessing and grace to this world. Unfortunately, they were the opposite instead. This resulted in cutting off the people through discipline.

- Pride pulled them away from God.

Why doesn’t fruit grow on my tree?

1. Pestilence and disease (let the wine dresser clean us)

a. In the vine world, “Their symptoms are sometimes extremely subtle, may not appear soon after infection, and may resemble other common problems such as nutrient deficiencies, chemical toxicities, and environmental extremes.”

b. We need to have God reveal the truth of our hearts to see if we are in need of further treatment when it comes to our hearts.

2. Lack of sunshine (Prayer)

a. In the vine world, If the leaves aren’t pruned out at the right time the plants

b. Distractions can step into our lives and choke out all the light and we need to be willing to weed those things out of our lives.

3. Lack of maturity: (teaching and testing)

a. In the vine world, Grapes need to be pruned for some time in order to fully produce the fruit at their full potential.

b. It takes time to begin to produce fruit in our lives, How maturity happens is through the pruning process.

4. Needs pollination: (connection/fellowship/love one another)

a. In the grape world, grapevines need to be cross pollinated. If they don’t they will not be able to produce fruit because there is no exchange of pollen.

b. We can’t produce fruit in isolation. We are required to connect with others in order to be fruitful in our connection with Christ. If we don’t we

Why cut branches off…

1. It’s not producing fruit, therefore it isn’t honoring the grapevine.

2. Further explanation of the grafting process (Romans 11:17-24)

a. It is pride that takes the Jews out of the plant

b. No pride is welcome in the vine

So as the vine what are we?

1. We are made alive through love (Christ’s death on the cross): We are a bud cut back to be placed in the rootstock

o Jesus is cut back, killed, and humiliated… So you can be grafted in and now show God’s glory…

2. We are made for producing fruit: We are provided with all the nutrition needed to produce fruit. (Romans

a. The strong truth about this point is, the measure of a Christian is fruit.

o What is our fruit? Galatians 5:

§ Love – selfless act of care for others

§ Joy – gladness and delight

§ Peace – peace shows the Spirit’s demeanor in our circumstances

§ Patience – content in all circumstances, endurance, longsuffering and perseverance

§ Kindness – Eph 2:7 – Christ shows us immeasurable kindness.

§ goodness(generosity) – See kindness (pair them)

§ faithfulness – a Choice to stand with sin or salvation

§ gentleness – Humble care for others

§ and self-control – humbly nailing our sins to the cross daily

- OR

o This fruit is nothing less than the outcome of persevering dependence on the vine, driven by faith, embracing all of the believer’s life and the product of his witness.[1]

3. We are made to glorify the father: The Vinedresser is glorified by the vines fruit. (v.7-8)

a. We are now an instrument of God’s glory through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the work of the Holy Spirit in us. (entering John 16)

How could the world benefit from you being faithful to remaining in God’s vine?

[1]Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 517). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.