Grape Thinking

Think like a grape.

john 15:1-4

15 “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.

If you’re going to abide on the vine, the first thing you’ve got to do is to think like a grape branch.

What would a grape branch be thinking?

What about those other branches?

Am I going to get the nutrients I need to stay alive?

Am I and my cluster of grapes going to get pruned?

But is this what Jesus tells us to be thinking about?

Forget everything else, abide in me.

Stay focused on one thing: Jesus.

Don’t worry about the other branches think about Jesus first.

Depend on Him alone.

If you have a rotten grape get rid of it, other grapes may get rotten too.

To be the grape branch Jesus wants you to be you’ve got hold onto Jesus, the true vine.

You can’t grow grapes grow by breaking away from the vine.

Don’t focus on others to grow spiritually.

You focus on Jesus alone.

Grapes can go bad by being too close to bad grapes.

The bad grapes need to be pruned, or at least, kept away from the healthy grapes.

Don’t get so close to the bad grapes that you become one of them.

Draw from the true vine, He will keep you healthy.

Don’t envy the olives.

You may think they have it better in the olive grove, but they get pruned too.

Their final destiny is probably to get their inner juices squeezed out , just like you will.

Olives are very different than you, but you still have a lot in common.

They need to accept the gardener’s decisions, just as much as you do.

John 15:5–11 ESV

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. 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. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I 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, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

verse 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.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.

Maybe we need to think like branches, and not just like grapes.

Like a grape vine attached to the main vine, we draw our strength from Jesus.

If a branch is removed from the vine it withers and dies because it has no source for nourishment.

We are bigger than a grape but not bigger than a vine.

It helps to keep things in perspective.

Verse 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.

Jesus is talking about those branches that get pruned.

I just pruned some blackberry bushes yesterday.

I haven’t grown blackberries for very long.

Last year was only their second year, and although I had a lot of berries they were all sour.

I cut off the small branches and left only the strongest and thickest branches.

This will give more nutrition to the berries that grow.

Hopefully they will be sweeter.

I’m also planning to see that they get more water than last year.

But there are those branches that I cut off, what about them?

No good.

Thrown out.

I put them in a compost bin.

Which would you rather be:

A branch that bears good, sweet fruit.

Or, one of the branches that is thrown out - burned, trash.

Jesus indicates you can make that choice - which will you be?

verse 7 - If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Don’t forget what Jesus is talking about - a grape vine and its branches bearing fruit.

What should you be thinking about? Bearing fruit.

If what you are talking about is bearing fruit, and Jesus says that if you ask God to do what you ask, what would Jesus be expecting you to bray about? Bearing fruit.

So, I think Jesus is saying, if you want to bear fruit, and you ask God to help you bear fruit, then you will receive a positive answer from God. He will help you to bear more fruit.

Some people think that this is saying God is in the pocket of the person who is in Jesus Christ.

That is not what Jesus is saying.

He is also saying that when you abide in Jesus you won’t ask for anything God doesn’t want to give you.

Kind of getting that in through the back door, but that is what Jesus is saying.

Jesus is not saying that God will give you every one of your sinful desires because if that is what you ask God, then you are not abiding in Christ.

It is more the sense that if you are living for Jesus then you will ask what God wants to give you already, and when you ask, He will give it to you.

Or another way of saying it is that a believer works hand in hand with God and Jesus.

So what if you ask for something and God doesn’t give it to you?

If you are abiding in Jesus then you are more concerned with what God wants than with what you want - so if God isn’t giving you what you want then maybe there is more to the story.

It would make sense that one of the most important things you want is to bear fruit.

First of all, we can’t know the mind of God, so there is much we cannot know.

We do know that God loves us and has the power to do anything.

God wants you to bear fruit. But what kind of fruit does He want you to bear?

Perhaps God knows something we don’t know about our request.

Or, it may be that God is doing something that we don’t understand.

But, we do have Jesus’ assurance that God

Verse 8 - By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

The fruit we bear glorifies God.

The fruit we bear proves we are Jesus’ disciples.

Verse 9 - As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

Branches don’t love vines - Jesus is going beyond the metaphor, love is the key to understanding our relationship to Jesus.

Love Jesus.

Jesus has been loved by the Heavenly Father.

It is the love of Jesus that sustains us.

The nourishment we experience by abiding in Jesus, or being on the vine, is the love Jesus has for us.

This love is our strength.

Verse 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.

Love for Jesus will cause us to obey His commandments.

Jesus’ love for the Heavenly Father caused Him to obey the Father’s commandments.

Obedience to the commandments is proof of love.

We are not Jesus’ equals.

He is in authority over us.

Therefore, loving Him is expressed by obeying Him.

I think the fruit Jesus has been talking about is obedience to the commandments.

If we abide in the vine, and receive Jesus’ love, then we will grow in His love, and we will obey him.

If we abide in Jesus we will bear much fruit.

Abiding in Jesus means obeying Him.

If you say you love Jesus but you disobey Him, something is very wrong with your love for Jesus.

Seek forgiveness.

Keep striving to obey.

He will not let you fail.

In time you will bear fruit, and obey him.

And, if you struggle with this - pray about it - this is the type of prayer Jesus said God will always answer.

It is in the context of what Jesus is talking about, that we would be praying to be fruitful.

To be fruitful means we are living in obedience to Jesus.

If we pray about this God is sure to work with us, and work to make us more loving and more obedient.

Verse 11 - These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

This life of obedience is not a life of drudgery but of joy.

The more you love, the more you obey, the greater your joy will be.

And what is Jesus’ command to us?

John 15:12–17 ESV

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. 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. 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. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

verse 12 - “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Jesus has set the example.

He died for us.

Verse 13 - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Verse 13 - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

The example of Jesus is that He did die for us.

This is the greatest example of love.

There is no greater expression of love possible, to make the ultimate sacrifice, giving your life for the well-being of another person.

Jesus did this, and he asks us to be willing to do the same.

The proof of our love for him is our willingness to put this kind of love into action.

It is a very tall order.

Verse 14 - You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Verse 14 - You are my friends if you do what I command you.

This is what Jesus wants us to do.

Jesus is greater than we are, but he can still call us friends.

Verse 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.

Verse 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.

Jesus is our Lord and master, so in that sense we are his servants.

Jesus calls us friends because He has explained Himself to us.

Orders don’t need a full explanation to be obeyed.

Often in an emergency there is no time for explanation.

In a fire, we are not given details, only to get out.

If you’re driving a car and you are about to hit somebody, you may be told to stop, but be given no further explanation.

This is because Jesus has decided to call us friends, not because we decided to call Jesus our friend.

He is in control.

He makes the call.

Verse 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.

Verse 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.

Jesus is making it clear that He is the one in charge.

Jesus chose us.

Jesus chose us to bear fruit - love and fruits of obedience that grow from that love.

This love causes us to abide still closer to Jesus, which causes us to love Him more, and in turn, causes us to bear more fruits of obedience and expressions of love for Jesus.

Verse 17 - These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Verse 17 - These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Jesus is in command.

Love him, serve him, obey him, and grow in joy.