"Branch Living"
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Intro: Growing up playing bball. Nothing I ever produced looked like that of a batter.
If we don’t take the time to develop the skill sets to be a baseball player, we will never look like a baseball player, right?
We may never be the best that ever played the game, but at the very least we should be able to produce some of the skills that comes out of someone who plays or has learned the game.
At the very least there would be a product that symbolizes we have a spent time trying to learn the game and have a knowledge of what is going on.
As we come to the heart of the Easter season, we normally hear people talk about where they are going to go for Easter service, or who they are going to invite.
Today’s message is a prep for what is to come next week. It’s a message to help us look deep inside our walk on this Palm Sunday.
Next week we will see people coming into this room dressed to the nines celebrating the risen King. I love seeing it, but let’s not forget the why.
Remember the goal of a bball player is not to look like, dress like, and sound like a bball player. The goal is to build a skill set, knowledge base, and ability that will allow people to see that.
Therefore, the goal of the believer is not to look like, dress like, and sound like a believer. We want to build a skill set, knowledge base, and abilities that will glorify God and allow people to see our walk is true.
In our passage today Jesus is meeting with and preparing his disciples for His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His return to Heaven.
What He shares is what it looks like to be His disciple in light of what will be taking place in His very near future. We will be reading through our passage throughout the message today. John 15:1-17
What I am going to do today is break this into two sections. In the first 6 verses Jesus defines what is produced when we have been fastened to Him, the True Vine.
In the second section, 7-17, Jesus identifies the trademarks of those who are fastened to Him, the true Vine. First, Jesus defines what is produced by branches who are fastened to Him and that is
2. His branches produce fruit
2. His branches produce fruit
Jesus begins with, “I am the true vine…” and this is the 7th “I Am” statement found in the Gospel of John.
Prior, He referred to Himself the bread of life, light of the world, the gate, good shepherd, the resurrection and life, and the way the truth, and the life. Read: John 15:1-6
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 branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
He never refers to himself as a light, a gate, or a truth. No, He referred to Himself as The Light, The Gate, The Way, right? And note his language does not change here. “I am The True Vine…”
So, I want you to understand as He is calling Himself the true vine, He is indicating that there is a false vine. His point is this. There is no other way to God accept through me.
This would have been a big statement for the those listening. Why? Because they knew the OT Israel is referred to as God’s vine.
So, get this now, when Jesus is saying, “I am the true vine…” He is defining that it has nothing to do with birthright, but everything to do with being His follower, His disciple.
You see, prior to Jesus, to become a citizen of Israel consisted of getting circumcised, bringing sacrifices to the high priest on your behalf, celebrating in festivals of the Jews, and living a very strict law.
So, do you see the magnitude of What Jesus made with that statement? He was saying once again, “All of that is unnecessary. You need to come and follow me.”
So, when Jesus refers to branches here, He is referring to both true and authentic followers of Him who bear fruit, and those who are not bearing fruit in their lives but proclaiming His name.
If you look at your walk with Christ and you have a hard time seeing any fruit, or change in your life, then you should consider if you’re connected to the true vine.
And if you see fruit that is bearing, or at the very least, starting to bud, then take heart that God will grow that in you. He is not content with you staying there. God will shape you for the better!
In that simple statement, “I am the true vine…” is what Jesus saying, “I am for you, what you cannot be for yourself.” We try to be moral. We try to do right, but it takes Jesus to save us.
What about the branches that aren’t producing fruit? God comes along and prunes. “Hey, wait, I thought God takes us now as we are. This does not feel right. Pruning cuts me Derek. What’s up with that?”
This idea of bliss on earth is crazy. It's nowhere in the Bible. The Lord prunes, and we grow. The Lord prunes, and we grow. The Lord prunes, and we grow. The Lord prunes, and we grow.
This is encouraging to me. Not only is Jesus seeing that there is some fruit there, but there can be even more, and the pruning will help develop that in me, to help develop more healthy fruit.
To be pruned is a blessing friend. To be pruned is part of the rescue. If you are going to be changed for better, if you are going to be more like Jesus, it will take pruning.
Don’t run from this. Engage this. You will not grow in this on your own. Don’t forget what Jesus says in verse four. Read John 15:4
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Look, the big takeaway here is for us to evaluate ourselves. Are we bearing fruit? Is there still dead stuff that needs to be cut away from us so that we can bear abundant fruit?
So, if you’re anything like me you want to know what this might look like. As we move into the next section, Jesus helps us identify markers of fruit or the …
2. Trademarks of His branches …
2. Trademarks of His branches …
Let me start with this, because I don’t want this to get lost in the message. Jesus delights in you or He would not have endured the cross. God delights in you because of the work on that cross.
So, let me ask this, wouldn’t you want to bear as much God pleasing fruit to glorify all that the King has already done for you?
Look, I’m not saying there are not times of drought, but don’t you want your life to testify the truth of the gospel? I’m not saying it will be perfect, but it should look different than before you came to Jesus.
This happens as we lean into Jesus, allowing the pruning to take place and leaning into His truth, allowing it to shape our lives. In time this shapes us.
Moving forward into the second half of our passage, Jesus lays out what it looks like to be one of His branches by laying out some of trademarks of His branches. Read John 15:7-17
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
He points to our prayer first. What we find is we will be a people of prayer and that it will be …
a. Prayer soaked in His truth
Many will see verse 7 and the same thought in verse 16 think, “Why doesn’t Jesus always answer the way I want and what I ask for?” And so, let’s park here for a moment.
Notice that this verse has an if/then clause. Read John 15:7
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Jesus sets the condition before the result. The condition before we ask is that we are abiding in Jesus and His words. If we are doing that, then we ask.
The other truth we don’t want to miss is the implication and purpose of prayer here. That is seen in verse 8. Read John 15:8
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Now the way John writes, the phrase “by this” at the beginning of verse 8 probably refers back to verse 7 and forward to the rest of verse 8.
God is glorified by us asking Him for things and glorified by our bearing fruit. You see God gets the glory because we trust to ask Him, and we continue to grow in our faith.
Jesus is keeping the disciples centered on God, right? He is teaching them that prayer is not about meeting personal needs or desires first. Prayer is about God first and growing in Him.
Jesus is not saying that praying for our needs or desires are wrong, but that our spiritual desires should be greater.
Spiritual desires are Kingdom desires; fruit-bearing desires; gospel-spreading, God-centered desires; Christexalting, God-glorifying desires. Jesus is saying those should come first.
That’s how Jesus taught us to pray. Just before Jesus said to pray our natural desire, “Give us this day our daily bread,” What did Jesus direct us to do first? Make much about God.
“God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in Him” When He taught us to pray, he said, first, make it your heart’s desire to hallow, or praise the name of God.
Pray the kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth just like in Heaven. The next trademark of His branches is …
b. Love full of obedience and joy
As we look at this trademark, we must first remember that God loves Jesus, and in turn, Jesus loves us with the same type of intense love. Let’s look at 9-11. Read John 15:9-11
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Now it is important to make sure you hear Jesus properly here. He is not saying, “Look if you want me to love you, then you better obey me peeps.” Jesus loves us, right. I mean, this I know.
What Jesus is saying is, “If you really do love me, then you can really show me by being obedient,” Our obedience does not earn His love, it is the evidence of our love for Him.
But Jesus also talks about Joy here too. Joy is a genuine trademark of a believer. For what the disciples were about to endure, this would be something they would fully want to grasp.
Note, Jesus did not say happiness. Happiness is fragile and can easily be distracted and affected by our external circumstances. You can have a happy morning at home, only to have it derailed at work.
Joy is not built on external circumstances. Jesus is teaching that it is built on your spiritual realities. You belong to Jesus and nothing can change that. The disciples were going to need this.
We need this. God is serious about your joy. He wants your confidence of joy to be rooted in Him. External circumstances may change, but He never will. The third and final trademark of His branches that we will look at today is …
c. A life full of love and sacrifice
Jesus commands to love others sacrificially, with that same type of sacrificial love he has poured out onto us. Read John 15:12-14
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
The standard is grand to say the least, but it is our calling. How then? How in the world are we to be able to do this? Loving people can be very difficult at times, right?
Jesus set the bar for the disciples and for us in verse 13, didn’t He? For the disciples He said, “I’m going to die for you on the cross.” And to us He said, “Don’t forget what I did on the cross for you.”
The greatest love was never romantic. The greatest love was always and has always been sacrificial. So let’s tie this all together then.
Are you bearing fruit today? Are you allowing the pruning part to take place? If Jesus has taken up residence inside you, you will be different, act different, and love different.
None of this will be because of any strength or effort on your end, but because of the constant work of Jesus in you. Keep striving to bear more fruit.
As you prepare for this Easter holy week, please evaluate your fruit as you celebrate. And if you see you need some pruning, would you ask the God to start that process in you today?
No matter where you are today, I pray that the power of the of this holy week, and Easter weekend following it, will bring you closer to the amazing grace of Jesus. Let’s pray.
