Are You Fruity?

Main Idea: God designed us to bear good fruit for His glory.

Introduction –

Thank you, Dr. Korver, and Dr. Dickerson, for affording me the opportunity to preach today, I truly appreciate it! Thank you, students who have shown up to chapel during Finals week!

We’ve been talking about the Fruit of the Spirit over the course of this Spring semester in chapel, and it made me think of my family’s garden. How many of you have a garden at home? Isn’t it great to plant, cultivate, and then reap the harvest in your garden? This year we planted two Fuji Apple Trees in our front garden, and we know that if those branches remain in the tree, we will eventually see fruit! Just as we know that our apple tree will eventually bear apples, we know that if we ABIDE in Christ, we will bear fruit as well!

That’s a funny word, isn’t it? ABIDE. It’s a word we don’t hear much anymore unless you’re watching some obscure 90’s Jeff Bridges film (The Big Lebowski). But I think we should take a minute to examine it so that we can have a full understanding of our passage today.

ABIDE finds its root in the Greek word Meno which can describe a place, a time, or a condition. When it’s used as a place, it means to remain, to stay, to inhabit, or dwell. Jesus dwells within us as we intake His word! When used as a time, it means to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure, live, survive. We abide in Jesus continuously by keeping His word and His ways in the forefront of our lives! When used as a condition, it means to remain as one, not to become another or different. When we abide in Jesus, we are one with Him – set apart from this world! Remember these definitions as we walk through our passage for today. It’s found in John 15, verses 1-8.

Background –

So, let’s set the stage - Jesus and the disciples are at the end of the last supper. This is after Judas consumed the morsel and left to do what he was going to do.

Imagine – Jesus knows it is getting close to the time of His crucifixion and wants to impart to His disciples the fact that He will be with them always. Here we see Him give one of the seven I AM statements; I AM THE TRUE VINE.

The vine is a symbol used throughout the Bible. Often Israel is compared to a vine, but it is usually not a good thing. Isaiah 5 shows us that Israel was compared to a vine where God expected to see good grapes but only found bad fruit (because of their disobedience toward God). They were a vine but not the TRUE VINE. Jesus only produced GOOD FRUIT!

Jesus, in this extended metaphor, is showing that believers in Him will never be without Him. It is a call to intimacy in Him.

Let’s see what Jesus said. Turn with me to John 15:1-8 (NASB)

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

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

3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

6 “If 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.

7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.[1]

Isn’t it amazing that we ABIDE in Jesus?

Point One: Abiding in Jesus is what causes us to bear fruit.

Explanation - There is nothing we can do to produce good fruit on our own, only ABIDING in Jesus can produce it. God, our Father, is the vinedresser. He has grafted us into the TRUE VINE – Jesus! Look at verse two “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.” Just as a gardener cultivates his garden, God removes the dead branches to keep disease and rot from spreading and prunes the healthy ones, so they produce more fruit. God cultivates the branches of the TRUE VINE to ensure healthy branches! Verse four and five emphasize that only in Jesus can we bear fruit, apart from Him we can do nothing. But in Him, we will bear MUCH FRUIT!

Illustration – You know, after a storm I find branches from trees in my yard lying on the ground. Would I expect those branches to sprout up new trees? As one professor here states it, TEXAS NO! And which branches fall first? The dead and withering ones. Or, how about this – Would you expect a floor lamp to light up if it wasn’t plugged into the wall? TEXAS NO!

Argumentation – Jeremiah 17:7-8 reinforces this by telling us:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

And whose trust is the Lord.

“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought

Nor cease to yield fruit.[2]

If we are abiding in Jesus, we are wholly dependent on Him! We trust in Him for all things!

Application – Take time to meditate on the fact that Jesus dwells within you and, as you pray study His word, let His ways guide your ways. Constantly remind yourself of who He is and how He walked!

Point Two: Abiding in Jesus (or not abiding) has a cause and effect.

Explanation – For every cause there is an effect. Look at verse 6 where Jesus says, “If 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.” The effect of not abiding in Jesus is pretty drastic! I wouldn’t want to be that guy! Would you? So, if we do not abide in Him, we will not be fruitful! Let’s go on to verse 7. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” So does that mean if I pray regularly and read the Bible, I can ask for that Mercedes G wagon? TEXAS NO! The point here is if we are abiding in Jesus and His words abide in us, we will ask what He would ask for. We would ask for things that will assist us in accomplishing God’s plans and purposes for our lives – according to His will!

Illustration – Imagine that your friend is teaching you how to put up a fence or construct a trellis for your garden, but you don’t have all the materials and tools necessary. Your friend knows you will need lumber, nails, a hammer, a saw, posthole digger, and concrete AND, if you communicated constantly with him, you would know what to ask for. Would you ask for a lawnmower to put up that fence? If you did, your friend would know you didn’t learn what he was trying to teach you.

Argumentation –

1 John 3:22 tells us “and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”[3]

1 John 5:14 says This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.[4]

Conversely, James 4:3 explains “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”[5]

Application – Think about what we ask for. Is it for His glory or ours? Is it His will or ours? Abiding in Jesus will give a clear answer to all these questions.

Point Three: Abiding in Jesus causes us to bear fruit for God’s Glory.

Explanation – God designed us to bear fruit for His glory. Look at verse 8 where Jesus continues, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” The fruit we bear glorifies the Father! When we bear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,[6] we solidify ourselves as disciples of Jesus! When the world sees the fruit we bear, they will see Jesus! This glorifies God! This is what we were designed for! To give glory to God!

Illustration – pretty well illustrated above.

Argumentation – That’s why it is written in Colossians 3 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”[7]

When we abide in Christ, we will do all things as if we were doing them for Jesus! So that God gets the glory!

Application – Remember why you were designed. To glorify God by bearing His fruit!

Conclusion - So, as I close, let us remember that abiding in Jesus will cause us to bear good fruit, that abiding in Him has a cause and effect, and that we were designed to bear good fruit to glorify God! Are you ready to bear good fruit to glorify God? Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer – Father God, you are the vinedresser and Jesus is the TRUE VINE. We abide in you, Jesus! We want to bear good fruit to glorify the Father. Cultivate us today to bear much fruit for Your glory! We pray this in the mighty name of JESUS, AMEN!

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:1–8. [2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Je 17:7–8. [3] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Jn 3:22. [4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Jn 5:14. [5] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jas 4:3. [6] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ga 5:22–23. [7] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Col 3:23.