Being a Fruitful Follower of Christ

Introduction

I often think of my first youth group...

Over the years that I served a Pinehurst we had a fruitful ministry in the area of life-change and eternal impact...

Through that experience God taught me that He blesses a fruitful, consistent ministry.

Being a fruitful Christian matters because God has not called us to be lazy in ministry.

Colossians 3:23 ESV

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Proverbs 14:23 ESV

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Ephesians 5:15–17 ESV

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

2 Thessalonians 3:6–9 ESV

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.

Additionally we could look at the parable of the talents as another example of the call to fruitful ministry.

It is true that God gives the increase and only God can change a heart, but we are called to faithful, fruitful work for the Lord.

Body: John 15:1-17

To begin, this one sermon became two sermons as I worked on it throughout the week...

Breaking an expository preaching rule this morning…answering two key questions

Key Question #1: How can I be a fruitful Christian?

Key Question #2: What are the outcomes of being a fruitful Christian?

Key Question #1: How can I be a fruitful Christian?

Verses 1-6

Scripture often uses metaphors when talking about the relationship of Jesus to the church: foundation/building; head/body; husband/wife; Adam/descendant.

Here the metaphor is a vine and branches…probably walking through a vineyard...

This metaphor is stooped in the OT, as Israel is often pictured as the vine.

Yet, they were and unproductive vine, and thus are not the true vine.

On the other hand, Jesus is the true or genuine vine which does produce fruit.

In verse 2, what fruit he is talking about?

A Christ-like life produced by the HS.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Not really about soul winning, though soul winning is a natural and normal result of fruit-bearing.

Notice the two responses to the unfruitful branches:

Taken away

Challenging term (αιρει). Could mean taken away or could mean taken up.

I’m certainly no expert when it comes to working a vineyard...

Taken away would suggest that they were gotten rid of, i.e. they will die.

Taken up would suggest that they were moved to a place where they could receive better nourishment.

I tend to believe it can mean both, because God will do both at times.

Who is this branch that doesn’t bear fruit?

Someone who lost their salvation…no!

False convert…Judas

Backsliding believer…

Pruned

Play on words (καθαιρει), which means to be pruned or cleaned.

Like a plant which is pruned and cleaned of all the things that might damage it, so it is with the life of the believer.

Sometimes pruning is painful...

It usually requires us to change something about our lives.

What does Jesus mean when He says, “you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you”?

This fits right with the metaphor He just used. They have been pruned spiritually through His teaching. This would continue through the work of the HS in their lives, by the way.

This is another encouragement. They will not be taken away, but they have been pruned and will be pruned more in the future. Why? He will tell them later: because they are His friends.

Verses 4-6 - You are the Branches; Abide in Christ

The word ‘abide’ is repeated 10 times in these verses!

Means staying connected or staying where you are. (remain)

Stay in or connected to Christ.

Abiding tells us the “why” of the vine and branches metaphor. Just as a branch can only receive nutrients, and thus bear fruit, when it is connected to the vine, so it is with a believer.

No fruit will be produced outside of intimate fellowship with the Lord.

Verse 6 is another challenging one with different interpretations.

Like above, I do not believe this is someone who has lost their salvation because that goes against Scripture.

Is Jesus talking about a false believer?

Or is Jesus talking about someone who is back sliding?

I have my opinion, but honestly that’s not really the important thing here.

As believers we must constantly keep ourselves in the Lord. Living in constant fellowship with Him. Because the alternative is terrible, either way!

See, if we are living our life for Jesus it won’t really matter, because we won’t be a false believer or a back slider!

So, how can I be a fruitful Christian?

To be a fruitful Christian you must abide in Jesus.

The believer’s life must be connected with Jesus moment by moment of every day. How?:

Continual prayer

Reading & obeying the Word

Worship & fellowship with His people

Constant conscience of our union with Him…

One of the greatest challenges facing the Christian church today is we talk about this, but don’t do it…

Key Question #2: What are the outcomes of being a fruitful Christian?

Verse 7

When we abide in Jesus we will have a powerful prayer life.

There are a lot of things we want in life that we can’t have…(Examples)

But, a powerful prayer life in within our reach.

First, make an effort to abide with Jesus daily.

Second, pray…a lot!

A powerful prayer life leads to our prayers being consistently answered.

Don’t confuse this as a “name-it-and-claim it passage.” God is not a genie in a lamp ready to give us three wishes.

As we become more intimately connected to Jesus, our prayers will reflect his will, not ours.

“Abiding is the secret to a successful prayer life.”

As I know the heart of God more and more, I will want what He wants more and more. And my prayers will reflect that!

Verse 8

The next outcome of being a fruitful Christian is...

When we abide in Jesus we will glorify God.

One of the most important marks of an authentic Christian life is that God the Father is glorified.

In 1646 devout believers got together and created the Westminster Confession.

The first question they looked at was, “what is the chief end of man?”

To glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

Never has a truer statement been uttered outside of Scripture itself!

As believers we must be passionate about bring glory to God with our lives.

Verse 8

When we abide in Jesus we prove that we are His disciples.

The greatest proof of Christ we can share with the world is the change inside of us.

When people see the change in you they are much more likely to want to hear about the Jesus who made the change happen.

I often think about how I was in high school and after high school…but then I received forgiveness of my sins and God began to change me...

Verses 9-11

When we abide in Jesus we will experience true joy.

The world seeks after happiness. More now than at any time in my lifetime, people believe that life is all about pursuing whatever makes you happy.

While they don’t realize it, much of the modern American society has become Epicureans.

Epicurus was a Greek philosopher that taught, in essence, that the pleasure is the highest goal of life and people need to do all they can to maximize pleasure and minimize pain and suffering.

But here’s the thing, seeking pleasure and our perceived greatest pleasures will never be achieved. Why not?

The law of diminishing returns...

We are not called to seek happiness and pleasure, but to seek joy in the Lord. What’s the difference?

Happiness and pleasure are based on temporal, limited experiences.

Joy is a satisfaction in God and His provision for us as His people. It is lasting, even in the midst of great difficulties.

Horatio Spafford...”It Is Well”...

That is true joy...

Verses 12-17

When we abide in Jesus we will learn to follow His example of sacrificial love.

In verse 12 Jesus transitions from talking about their love and obedience to God, towards their love for one another.

He had already given them this commandment in 13:34, but doesn’t want the disciples (or us) to miss the vital nature of this command.

He knew he was leaving them in a hostile world, with a message that many would reacted against in hostile ways, and the temptation would be there to be hostile towards one another.

This would be unacceptable.

So they are to love as he has loved.

That is, they are to love each other sacrificially.

Jesus command is that the same degree of love that he has shown to them, they should show to one another.

Then foreshadows the ultimate love which would be displayed very soon.

That sacrificial love would be displayed best when Jesus went to the cross for those he loves.

How many of us will endure the cross of shame, humiliation, pain, suffering, and death for others?

The Greek here is really showing a picture of one voluntarily laying down their life. It’s not by volition or force, but a choosing to because love matters more than one’s own life.

One of the great challenges with verse 13 is the fact that most of us will never be called on to lay our lives down for another person.

So saying we would do this is relatively easy because we probably won’t be faced with the situation.

However, at the heart of self-sacrifice is self-denial. Each and every day we are faced with the need to deny ourselves for others.

Unfortunately, too often we fall way short when it comes to self-denial.

Friendship with Jesus is best displayed in obedience.

In fact, it’s the only real test of true friendship with the Lord, are we obedient to him?

Notice, this isn’t the way that we become his friends, it’s the way we exhibit that friendship to the world.

“The friends of Jesus are those who habitually obey Him.”

In verses 15 we see this servant talk, which causes most of us to feel uncomfortable.

Jesus was well within his rights to call them servants. But he calls them friends.

Think about the trust level you have with a friend:

You tell your friends your future plans, knowing they will not ridicule them or put their own desires first.

You share your hurts, pains and struggles because you know they will keep them in confidence.

You tell your friends the things they need to know the most, especially when their lives depend on it!

Consider here the issue of motivation.

A servant will do what the master does because the master ordered it. This may or may not be out of devotion to the master, but out of obligation and possibly even force.

However, a friend’s motivation is out of love and devotion to the other person.

Friendship as the motivation means much more than obligation and/or force because it’s a reflection of love.

And then goes on to share that because they are his friends, he shares all that the Father has revealed to himself to those who are his friends.

This was especially important for John’s audience to hear. John was dealing with early Gnosticism that said there was a higher or special knowledge that one needed to have to really understand the things of God. Not so, Jesus told them all they would need to know.

Like driving a car: we teach teens how to drive before we let them drive. Without knowing how to stop the car or steer the car we would have big problems!

All of this builds towards a solemn commission (a mission which he chose them for): to bear fruit.

Understanding about Jesus choice: He isn’t saying that they exercised no will of their own, they did choose to follow him.

This has to do with the original initiative.

If he hadn’t chosen them, they wouldn’t have chosen him.

And the context demands that we understand that he’s speaking about chosen to be his disciples, not to salvation…though the teaching of election holds in that we see God’s sovereign choice throughout Scripture.

Verse 16 is important here so we don’t fall into the trap of humanism.

We must keep in mind that even though Jesus calls his followers his friends, he is not saying they are on equal footing with him. In fact, he chose them in the first place. We like to think the initiative lies with us, but it always lies with him.

Then to remove all doubt, Jesus says, “I told you all this so you will bear fruit, by loving one another.”

Many today believe bearing fruit simply means winning souls. Winning souls is important, but if that was the case here, why hasn’t Jesus said anything about lost souls, their evangelistic ministry, or ministering to the world. He talks at length about loving God and loving one another.

Here’s the deal: winning souls is secondary to loving God through devotion, obedient living and loving one another. When that falls into place, God will draw people to his people because they are faithful and people will be drawn because they feel loved.

Faithful living leads to winning people to the Lord.