John 15:1-11
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I. Introduction
I. Introduction
a. Scripture: John 15:1-11
a. Scripture: John 15:1-11
And as always, I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.
<Pray>
Thank you, and you may be seated.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
“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.
“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
“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.
“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
II. Contextualization
II. Contextualization
a. Feast of the Passover - In the upper room with the Disciples
b. He is there for the Last Supper with them - Just washed their feet
c. He has just predicted His betrayal...”Lord is it I???” All confused - Identified the betrayer with dipped morsel of bread…and it was Judas… - really this was a final a warning to Judas…Jesus washed His feet, shared the Word with Him and warned Him…Judas had time to change his mind...Gives the betrayer permission:
- “what you do, do quickly”
d. Jesus sensed that His disciples were troubled and wanted to encourage them…
NASB95“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
Let’s them know that He is where there hope is found…and that HE is the only way.
e. Jesus is still there in the upper room…reclining and relaxing w/disciples…will spend a great deal of time there with them over the next couple of chapters, in order to teach them....this is a special time....it is their very last meal together in this life....and that’s where we left off last time....Jesus has been talking to them about the Holy Spirit and they are about to leave that place very shortly, but He has a few closing comments first....and they begin with this particular discourse.
III. Major Points
III. Major Points
1. Which Type of Believer are You?
2. Are you Even Saved?
3. Obedience is the Key
IV. Point #1: Which Type of Believer are You?
IV. Point #1: Which Type of Believer are You?
Explanation
a. Vine and branches: imagery that every Jew would have understood at that time....in the OT, the vine regularly appeared as a symbol of Israel…the disciples were used to this:
You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.
Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
Isaiah 5
“Yet I planted you a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
b. Father owns the garden, Jesus is the vine, and followers are the branches....the word for “gardener” is the Grk “georgos” is the common word for farmer…which is the Father’s role....and since the gardener is the Father, Jesus is the vine which is the link to believers....the Catholics interpret that the CHURCH is the vine - because they believe that you must have faith & works to get to heaven....it is works-based in religion....so to be tied to the church as an organization is a work…that is why they interpret that way.
c. Then in verse 2, 3 types of believers are named or inferred in this chapter:
1. Those who bear no fruit
2. Those who bear SOME fruit
3. (in verse 5) Those who bear MUCH fruit…true believers
d. Before you can figure out which type of believer you are....you have to figure out what “fruit” is....Paul gives us some guidance on that in Galatians Chapter 5 and verses 22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians
These are the fruits of being a regenerate, saved Christian....in other words: they are indicators of Christ living within you....they are EVIDENCE of the Holy Spirit within you and having a transformed Christlike Spirit.....so hear me closely this morning: If you LACK these fruits, you lack Jesus Christ.....I didn’t say that, HE did in this passage, didn’t He?
“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.
John
So before you can decide which of the types of branches/believers you are…you have to first look at the fruits of your spirit.
Illustration
I once read of a little boy who used to escape his bedroom after being punished. He would crawl out of his bedroom window down an old fruit tree to the ground. One day, his father told him that he was going to chop down the fruit tree, because it hadn’t borne any fruit for a number of years.
That evening, the boy and his friend bought a bushel of apples, and during the night, tied those apples on the barren branches. The next morning, the man could not believe his eyes. He said to his wife, "Honey, I can’t believe it! That old tree hasn’t yielded any fruit for years, and now it’s covered with apples. And, the most amazing thing is that it’s a pear tree!"
Application
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that can’t be faked! You either have it or you don't. You might attempt to hang apples on the pear tree – but that’s not real fruit! God doesn’t want you to pretend.
Church: If you don’t have the fruits of the Spirit, you are not connected to our Lord....if you lack love, joy, peace, patience, kindness....any of those…maybe you don’t know the real Jesus?
“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
You say “well preacher you just don’t know what I’m going through...” It doesn’t matter....you shouldn’t have to pretend....if you are linked to Jesus, you don’t walk around pretending to have joy, you HAVE it because that is a fruit, or a result of knowing Jesus and having salvation in Him.
If you walk around and choose to be angry....if you choose to be negative.....if you choose to be critical....if you choose to be sarcastic.....if you choose to insult others and bring them down.....then you are not living like you know Jesus Christ.....because Jesus represents all that is good and wonderful…to reflect anything that is not like that from your heart lacks everything that is Christ.
Maybe you don’t “feel” like acting that way....so what? Then it comes down to two things: you ARE saved and know Jesus but you choose to be disobedient and live another way OR, you don’t know Jesus at all.....either one of those is a problem, friend...
What are you going to do about it?
You can meet Jesus here today and really get to know him....actually get saved.....OR, you can stop being disobedient and start showing the fruits of the spirit.
Start smiling....start speaking words of encouragement instead of discouragement....be kind to others…put other first.
But here’s the key: either way it’s your choice....what are you going to do about it? What type of believer are you?
V. Point #2: Are you Even Saved?
V. Point #2: Are you Even Saved?
Explanation
a. When discussing the types of branches, one type is cut off....
“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.
Question, why is it “cut off”? In the pruning process, a limb that is cut off is generally a dead one…my Uncle Steve’s grape vine has always been a source of pride for him....as a kid I would spend many long days working on those grape vines....cutting off certain branches so that the resources of the vine would not be wasted there....the one thing the cut branches had in common?: they were dead.....fruitless. And if they weren’t completely dead, when they hit the ground, they would certainly die very shortly thereafter....
When a believer is cut off once and for all from God, they are doomed....there is no turning back....at some point it is too late....and when you are cut from the vine, there is no salvation and there is no life apart from Christ....in verse 5 he said apart from Me you can do NOTHING
b. But verse 6 is more telling:
“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.
Cast into the fire.....those clipped off fruitless, faithless people will not just be piled up somewhere....they will one day be destroyed....by fire....this is a clear reference, to hell.
So my question is not just are you being disobedient by not displaying the fruits of the Spirit....or are you saved in the most shallow sort of way but never bothered to get to know the very Savior who saved you....because if you had, you would show it....like Jesus said “there would be proof.”....my other question is: are you even saved? How do we have that assurance that we are, indeed, saved from our sins?
Illustration
Have you ever heard of someone crossing their fingers for good luck? This was actually a practice in the early church that represented the symbol of the cross....and it was a way to give well wishes to a neighbor. Russ Chiodo, Director of Emergency Services for Beaver County, PA, was the person in charge of picking up the body parts from the 132 people who died on the ill-fated USAir Flight 427 that crashed on its way from Chicago to Pittsburgh. When asked what it was like to bag body parts with no human faces left, Chiodo confessed to the sight that affected him the most. “The thing I’m not going to be able to forget for a long time is finding a hand with its fingers crossed—as if for luck.”
Application
If I’m ever in a crashing plane....I hope I can have more peace than to simply cross my fingers and hope my faith is enough....my assurance is enough.
But listen: no amount of symbols at the last minute can atone for a lack of faith, church. You have believe that Christ is exactly who He says He is....and, the Bible says here very quickly, that they will know you by your fruits....
So church are you saved? If you are are you showing the fruits of the spirit in your life? If not, why not? Maybe you are being disobedient....OR....and I hate to say it, but here it is in black and white: maybe you aren’t saved at all....and you need to GET saved and commit the rest of your life to Jesus Christ....
And again, I’m not saying to get RE-saved....or saved-again....I’m not saying you LOST your salvation....I’m ALSO not saying the fruits of the spirit SAVE you.....they are simply evidence that you ARE saved....I’m simply saying: if you don’t know anything about those fruits, then you don’t know Him.....maybe you need to be introduced and get saved the first time....
You have to know HIM, to know salvation from your sins.
VI. Point #3: Obedience is the Key
VI. Point #3: Obedience is the Key
Explanation
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
“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.
“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
a. Jesus says here that He extends the love of the Father TO us....and you can LIVE in that love…to abide means to dwell or live in....and He says that there is ONE way to do that: to be obedient…to keep God’s commandments....to be holy....and that THIS is the key to joy....to happiness.....to have FULL joy in life....to have life complete in the best way possible....you live in the love of the Lord and show Him love by being obedient. The opposite of obedience is sin.
Illustration
In His book “Finishing Strong,” Steve Farrar writes of disobedience that “"Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you're willing to pay."
From the beginning the promise of sin was a lie. Eve was tricked into thinking that she could disobey God and be better off because of it. Of course, all she got for her trouble was the curse of God. It is, in fact, impossible to be blessed as a direct result of disobeying God. All that God has to offer us by way of His blessings are found at the other end of OBEDIENCE.
Application
Church: From the beginning the promise of sin was a lie. Eve was tricked into thinking that she could disobey God and be better off because of it. Of course, all she got for her trouble was the curse of God. It is, in fact, impossible to be blessed as a direct result of disobeying God. All that God has to offer us by way of His blessings are found at the other end of OBEDIENCE.
The fact is that living in love with Christ is to live in obedience....and Jesus promises…not just says....He PROMISES....that your joy will be made FULL....by living in obedience....THAT, friends, is why your life should reflect kindness, love and joy and all the other fruits of the spirit....because a joyful person acts differently than an unjoyful person....and a joyful person is one who knows Christ.
VII. Conclusion
VII. Conclusion
a. Let me ask you this morning, are you living for that? Are you showing the fruits of the Spirit in your life....if your not, you are either being disobedient....or maybe you don’t know Him at all?
BUT....if you continue out of this building that way, its because you chose to....choose something else. Choose love....Choose Jesus.....show the fruits in your life.
b. Let’s Pray