Vine and Branches

John 15:1-8 (NIV) 1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

When God created everything, we can assume that he made many more than one set of animals that would eventually populate the earth. But when he created mankind, how many people did he make?

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7 NIV

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

What blessing did God give to mankind so that the earth would be inhabited?

Genesis 1:28 NIV

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The population of the earth grew as God had commanded. But at the time of Noah there was a sudden, sharp decline in population because of the Flood so that only eight people were left. What blessing (command) did God repeat to Noah after the Flood?

Genesis 9:1–3 (NIV)

1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

What advantages are there in having a large population?

What disadvantages are there in having a large population?

In Malawi, missionaries tell us that parents have as many children as possible so that at least one will survive and thrive to take care of them in their old age in this economically distressed country. Why is such thinking counter intuitive?

Throughout the Bible the desired number of children is “the more the better”. Can you give some examples of this approach to being fruitful?

Share with the class your observation on the size of families in your life time.

My great grandfather Christian is one of ten siblings.

My grandfather Christian is one of ten siblings.

My mother is one of four siblings.

I am one of four siblings.

My wife and I have three children.

We have three grandchildren.

Are we less fruitful than our ancestors or is something else going on?

Being fruitful applies to more than just the size of families. It also refers to plant and animal life as well as productivity. What are the advantages if something is being productive?

Although a large supply will lower demand and costs, I hope we would all agree that having an abundance is to be preferred to being in want. What are some ways that God has given you and your family an abundance?

It is true that we all have the same amount of time. But this isn’t entirely true. Labor saving devices allow us to be more productive because we can get more done in a shorter amount of time. In the introduction to Leave it to Beaver, Wally and the Beaver are mowing the lawn. What do you think they used? What do you use to mow the lawn? Obviously using a riding lawn mower with a 54” cut will allow you to get the lawn mowed much quicker than a push mower with a 21” cut. Now you have more time to . . .

Jesus uses the concept of bearing fruit to teach his disciples that God prefers that Jesus’ disciples bear fruit. Notice how often this is emphasized in our text.

John 15:1-8 (NIV) 1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

What does this mean?

John Jesus Teaches About the Vine and the Branches / 15:1–17 / 215

15:5–6 “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Each branch that continues to remain in the Vine will continually produce fruit. This “fruit” could be new converts (15:5), or “the fruit of the Spirit” (see Galatians 5:22), or both. The fruit of the Spirit displayed in our lives should attract people to Jesus and thereby make them new members of God’s vine. Jesus’ emphasis here was not to dwell on our glaring inadequacies, but to remind us of the incomparable adequacy that comes from our relationship with him.

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

2 Peter 1:3–11 NIV

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:13 NIV

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

James 1:26–27 NIV

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Summary: Living a godly life and praying according to God’s will trusting that he will answer those prayers as is best.

The second part of the sermon emphasizes how God gives us the strength and the means by which we can be productive. In contrast, what might be some things that keep us from being productive Christians? See 2 Peter 1:5-9 above.

What keeps you from making the best us of your time right now?

Another impediment to being productive is that there are forces lined up against us. What might make a crop unproductive? What might keep a farmers herds and flocks from increasing? What keeps a baseball team from scoring ten runs every inning?

I once asked a question at examination of confirmands: “Who opposes your will to remain faithful to Jesus?” I was caught off guard when the students answered, “The Pastor”. What answer was I looking for?

The next question was, “What has God given to us to keep us faithful to him?” What is the answer?

The final question was, “Will you make continual use of The Means of Grace?”

What was the importance of these questions?

Our Lord’s will for his disciples is that we are productive Christians. This does not mean that we will always have the results that we may expect. It does mean that we are faithful in using the Means of Grace and using the resources God has given us to be productive.

What does the parable of the Sower and the Seeds teach us about the relationship between the Word of God and productivity?

Which result do we pray for?

Conclusion: We certainly are not a large and thriving congregation which can expect to become a mega church or anything that closely resembles it. One reason is that our historical source of growth was internal as families had abundant children and many of them stayed in the area and remained in the congregation. But we still have the vine and we are the branches. Our goal is to remain in him and to trust that he will empower us to produce the fruits that he desires in quality even if it is not in quantity.