Sermon 11 - John 15 - I Heard It Through the True Vine
INTRODUCTION:
1. ((illus)) I find it interesting that we are entering the Spring season just as we come to our Scripture portion for today.
a. Which speaks of vines and branches and fruit.
b. I think it is a “God-thing.”
2. ((illus)) The only time I remember being in a real “vineyard” was on a mission’s trip to NE Italy.
a. I couldn’t get over the beauty – not only of the vineyard itself – all orderly and neat, but also the beauty of the fruit.
b. Huge clusters of grapes hung from the vines.
c. It looked as if there wasn’t a rotten grape or a discolored leaf in the in the whole place.
3. Such is the picture Jesus puts before us in our text for today.
a. John 15:1-8 (page )
b. 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
3 You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
6 Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
7 But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!
8 My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
4. Understand WHAT ELEMENTS we are dealing with here:
a. Vine
i) Jesus
ii) :1 – “I am the true vine”
iii) The last of the “I am” statements in John
¨ We remember the song – “I heard it through the grape vine.”
¨ Meaning it’s probably gossip.
¨ But here, the theme IS “I’VE HEARD THROUGH THE TRUE VINE”
(a) This is truth – He can be trusted.
(b) Our God is a Covenant-Making and Covenant-Keeping God
iv) We’re reminded that there all kinds of voices that speak to us.
¨ Many of those voices come from within.
¨ Many times they are “sour grape vine” voices.
¨ Voices of untruth.
¨ It takes discipline and training to recognize the false voices and not listen to them – rather listen to the “true vine” Jesus Christ.
b. Branches
i) :5 - I am the vine; you are the branches.
ii) That’s a reference to all true believers
iii) That includes you and me.
c. Gardener – vinedresser
i) :1 - my Father is the gardener
ii) God, the Father
iii) He’s in charge of caring for the vineyard
d. fruit
i) :8 - My true disciples produce much fruit
5. FRUIT – several kinds in the NT
a. Galatians 5:22-23 – fruit of the Spirit – godly character
b. Phil. 1:11 – being filled with the fruits of righteousness – godly activities/attitudes
c. John 4:35 – fields white unto harvest – introducing others to Christ.
6. Notice the PROGRESSION WITH FRUIT and understand the heart of God for you and me:
a. :2 – No fruit - He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit
b. :2 - fruit - he prunes the branches that do bear fruit
c. :2 – more fruit - he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
d. :8 – much fruit - My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
i) Do you get the sense that God does not want us to be static or remain still in the Christian life?
ii) That He loves us enough to accept us just like we are; but He loves us too much to let us stay that way?
iii) Could it be that this morning God, the Father, the Gardener is up to something in your life this morning?
iv) Will we cooperate with Him?
e. Here’s the BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT THIS FRUIT.
i) ((illus)) When I was a boy living up north, Mr. Will, our neighbor, had an apple orchard on the back part of his small farm.
ii) Sometime in late summer or early Fall, big delicious red apples would develop on the tree.
iii) The neighborhood children could eat if we obeyed the rules: we could pick up the good fruit on the ground, or pick from the tree what we could reach with our feet on the ground. We could not climb the trees.
iv) As I think back to those beautiful trees hanging with fruit:
¨ I must confess I never saw those trees struggling to bear fruit.
¨ They never took a class or read a book on being more fruitful.
¨ In fact, I don’t think those fruit trees ever thought about fruitfulness.
¨ Their fruitfulness depended on Mr. Will. Making sure they got the proper water, fertilizer, and pruning.
7. Why is it that so many Christians run around measuring and comparing each other’s fruit, as well as their own?
a. Why do they take so many seminars and read so many books about greater fruitfulness when it is none of their concern.
b. Don’t misunderstand – with all of my heart, I want to bear much fruit for the glory of God.
c. But “much fruit” for you and “much fruit” for me may be two different things.
d. And the fruit in my life is His concern, not mine.
8. From this text, MY CONCERN INVOLVES THREE THINGS:
a. As a potential fruit-bearing branch I must be CONNECTED to the vine and keep that connection clean and unobstructed.
b. I must submit to the CULTIVATION of the Gardener/Vinedresser, which primarily involves his pruning in my life.
c. I must COMMUNICATE with Him my heat’s desire: Please, dear God, just give me MORE of Your fruit in my service.
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE TRUE VINE
John 15:1-8
1. I MUST BE CONNECTED FOR FRUITFULNESS
a. This is not a complicated concept.
i) The vine and branch
ii) Jesus is the vine, He has the life; I’m the branch.
iii) I need to be connected to Him.
b. ((illus)) How many times have you and I heard that if we wanted to get ahead…or get hired…or get accepted…or get promoted, it would depend on who we knew..
i) Connections.
ii) You need to be connected to the right people.
c. When it comes to spiritual fruit-bearing, this is what it’s all about.
i) Who you know.
ii) It’s all about one primary connection to Jesus Christ.
d. As simplistic as it may sound, fruit is produced on a branch that is attached to a vine.
i) :5 - I am the vine; you are the branches
ii) So how is this done – HOW ARE YOU ATTACHED TO THE VINE?
e. ATTATCHED TO THE VINE ORGANICALLY
i) There can be no guesswork here.
ii) For a branch to have fruit-bearing potential, it must be alive.
iii) Since it has no life of its own, it must be organically attached to the vine so that the sap, or life, of the vine flows through the trunk and into the branch.
iv) :5 - apart from me you can do nothing
f. The FIRST NECESSARY STEP in order for you and me to be fruitful in service is to DETERMINE OUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP TO JESUS CHRIST.
i) That is possible through an act of faith in the work of Jesus Christ for you.
ii) We must come in repentance and faith to him and be born again.
iii) Then we receive His life – the Holy Spirit.
g. Out of that grows this important concept:
i) Even though you and I will bear fruit, we will not be the ones producing the fruit.
ii) That comes through the life in the vine.
h. For many ORGANIZATIONAL ATTACHMENT to Christ is substituted for the organic attachment.
i) The join a church or a Bible study, or they might even pray or profess to be a “branch” when in reality they don’t have don’t have the “sap” or real life of the Holy Spirit flowing through them.
ii) These people may be good, moral, sincere, honest, civic minded, religious people.
iii) But they are what Jesus calls “dead wood” and are cast out
¨ :6 - Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
i. So HOW DO YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DEAD WOOD AND THE LIVE BRANCH?
i) The difference is in the fruit.
ii) While Jesus cautions us against judging, He does encourage us to be “fruit inspectors.”
¨ Matt. 7:20 - you will know them by their fruits
¨ Look for the fruit of a personal testimony of confession and repentance of sin and salvation.
(a) Look for the fruit of a transformed, Spirit-controlled life evidenced by love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
(b) Look for the fruit of hunger and thirst for God’s Word that compels a person to read it, study it, apply it, and obey it, and to spend time in prayer.
(c) Look for the fruit of other people’s lives being transformed as a result of the person’s witness.
iii) The Gardener is the only one that knows about these people for sure.
¨ Stay focused on God’s life in and through you.
¨ The key to this is ABDIING in Christ
(a) NLT uses “remain” and “to be joined”
(b) The word is used of God and His character which does not change.
(c) For believers, it has the idea of remaining connected permanently and consistently.
(d) “To abide in Christ means to remain connected to Him so completely that the “sap” of His Spirit flows through every part of your being, including your mind, emotions, and emotions as well as your words and deeds.”
(i) This fruit is normally produced through no conscious effort of our own.
(ii) If you and I want to be fruitful, we do not concentrate on fruit-bearing, we concentrate of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
j. So this morning, we have to ASK OURSELVES IN WHAT AREAS OF OUR LIVES ARE WE ACTING INDEPENDENTLY OF THE VINE.
i) What items have I not prayed about?
ii) People and problems
iii) Relationships and responsibilities
iv) Activities and attitudes
v) Schedules and stress
vi) Entertainment and exercise
vii) Decisions and dreams
viii) Anything and everything.
k. Submit each part of your life to Christ
I MUST BE CONNECTED FOR FRUITFULNESS
2. I MUST BE CULTIVATED FOR FRUITFULNESS
i) “Cultivation is necessary because the abundance of fruit is in direct proportion to the “size” of the connection where the branch is joined to the vine.”
¨ The smaller and more constricted the connection, the less fruit is borne because the capacity of sap is small.
¨ The larger and more expanded the connection, the greater the fruitfulness because the branch has a greater capacity to be filled with the sap.
¨ In order to expand the connection, the Gardener cuts, clips, and cleanses the branch to force the connection to the Vine itself to be enlarged.
a. Cultivation through cutting
i) Fruit is borne in abundance on tender, fairly new growth.
¨ As the wood of a branch gets older, it tends to get harder.
¨ So even though a branch is living and is connected to the vine, it can become barren.
(a) ((illus)) This explains my problem with my hibiscus!
¨ Still leaving the branch connected to the vine, the gardener cuts back the old, hard wood, forcing it into new growth that will produce fruit instead of just more wood and leaves.
ii) Jesus described this drastic pruning in a believer’s life when He explained that the Gardner :2 – “takes away” or cuts off.
iii) There are time in our lives when God cuts everything out of our lives except our relationship with Jesus.
¨ He forces us to pay attention to our relationship with Him because that’s all we have.
¨ And in the process, our “connection” to the Vine is enlarged and fruit is produced.
iv) That firm click of the Gardener’s shears can be heard when…
¨ We are confined to a hospital room,
¨ We are laid flat on a sickbed,
¨ We are fired from a job,
¨ we are moved to a new place, surrounded by strangers,
¨ we are isolated in a new job, surrounded by unbelievers.
v) When was the last time you were cut back to the “nub?”
¨ How did you respond?
(a) Resentment, angry?
(b) Bitter, jealous?
¨ Here is time when you must trust Him.
(a) He’s been pruning for years.
(b) He knows what he’s doing.
(c) He will not cut you back so far that you cannot grow.
Cultivation through cutting
b. Cultivation through Clipping
i) While cutting is drastic and encourages new growth, clipping is used mainly to control and shape the growth of the plant.
¨ This encourages fruitfulness by concentrating the energy of the vine into the fruitful areas of the branch.
¨ The Gardener will even clip a fruitful branch as Jesus described in :2 - he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
ii) The clip, clip, clip of the Gardener’s shears is like a constant staccato in my life:
¨ I pray for patience and God puts me with a very demanding person…clip
¨ I pray for obedience and God sends suffering…clip
¨ I pray for strength and the doctor says something else is wrong with me and it may require surgery…clip
¨ I pray for humility and then I’m falsely accused…clip, clip.
¨ I pray for faith and a family member winds up in the hospital…clip
¨ I pray for love and then it seems to run out of our marriage…clip, clip
iii) :8 - My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
iv) Maybe instead of resisting His cutting and clipping, we should thank Him for caring enough to take the time to cultivate our lives into those which bring glory to Him.
¨ Cultivation is a sign of skill and time and thought on the part of the Gardener.
¨ Cultivation is a sign that you are a genuine disciple.
¨ I must submit to his cutting, his clipping and
Cultivation through cutting
Cultivation through Clipping
c. Cultivation through cleansing
i) :3 - You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you.
¨ Lit. - “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
ii) There is one primary “internal blight” that attacks the branches of the Vine, which, if not severely dealt with, will destroy our fruitfulness.
¨ The blight is SIN.
iii) Sin obstructs the free slow of the “sap” of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
¨ Since the Holy Spirit is the one who truly produces the fruit that we bear, anything that grieves or quenches Him affects our fruitfulness.
iv) As the disciples continued to listen to the words of Jesus and place their faith in Him and obey Him, they were clean.
v) ((illus)) Have you ever turned on a garden hose and at first nothing comes out because some little animal or some debris has gotten into the hose?
¨ As the Holy Spirit comes to fill us, the only thing that will restrict Him is our sin.
¨ It can be a small lizard of jealousy or anger or pride or worry.
(a) It could be a small pebble or dirt of doubt or bitterness or pride.
(b) Maybe the dead leaf of a memory or a failure or something inflexible.
vi) Whatever it is, it can be removed through confession of sin.
¨ Then there will be cleansing
¨ And the Holy Spirit will fill and there will be fruitfulness.
I MUST BE CONNECTED FOR FRUITFULNESS
I MUST BE CULTIVATED FOR FRUITFULNESS
3. I MUST IN COMMUNICATION FOR FRUITFULNESS
a. The church is always one generation away from extinction.
i) Even though God wants us to bear eternal fruit for him, WE MUST ASK FOR IT.
ii) Prayer for fruit is an important part of our communication.
b. This prayer, like any communication must be two-sided.
i) Conversation with God.
ii) Listening to God
iii) :7 - But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!
¨ Be careful what you pray for, you might get what you asked for.
¨ Be careful what you pray for that it is lined up with the will of God - my words remain in you
c. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME TO ASKED GOD:
i) To make you more like Jesus
ii) To use you to help others know him better
iii) To give you opportunities to share the Good News
iv) To give you one person to share His love with today?
CONCLUSION:
More blessing and more fruit require:
a. A connection to the Vine that is attatched organically a abides consistently
b. Cultivation as the Gardener cuts, clips, and cleanses
c. Simple, forthright communication as I humbly ask, Dear God, give me more fruit in my service.