Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: "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.

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.

John 15: 1-9 (ESV)

Text Background: Come with me for a minute this morning, and place yourself into the original setting of today's text.

Time is ticking fast, as Christ is only hours from his arrest and persecution.

Christ has gathered His trusted twelve disciples and instructed them to carry out His work after His Death and resurrection to Heaven.

Christians know this setting as the Lord's Supper and Chris's teaching to His twelve disciples as "The farewell discourse."

Christ's "farewell discourse" is recorded in the books of Luke and John.

As each of the four Gospels show us a different Jesus, we can see the difference as we discover the Lukean Jesus as the Savior of the World - and the Jesus of John as the Son of God.

So, as we discover this morning's text, I ask that you imagine you are hearing the Son of God, say the words repeatedly, "Abide in Me."

We can see through a look at the whole book of John that Christ is finalizing His training of his twelve disciples to carry on His work after His ministry has ended.

Significantly, Christ assures His disciples that the Holy Spirit will be with them forever.

(14:6) The parable teaches us that the nature of the union of the vine and the branch is a living one.

No work of man can affect whether the branch leads to fruit or not.

So, likewise, man's union with his Creator is no work of human wisdom or will- rather an act of God.

Consequently, today's text tells us that we have no control and must rest in the fact that Jesus is in control- and trust that he will help us when we get bad branches in our lives.

The word "Abide in Him" is used in the context that we continually receive, believe, and trust that Jesus is everything that we need.

Christ knows His followers are going to struggle when He is no longer with them on a daily basis.

Today's text promotes how 1st Century Christians could embrace a divine perspective in light of their pain.

Only Christ knows how this divine perspective will produce a deep sense of well-being and joy in knowing that our lives are unified with Him and his powerful sacrificial atonement for our sins through his death and resurrection.

This morning we will be looking at the Gospel text as we grasp that John tells us how "Ethical Living" allows us to take our daily Christian Walk following God's will.

But as we start, I ask each of you, "What can you do to help you navigate the many obstacles of life to have that very close relationship with God?

A life in which you continually receive, believe, and trust that his son- Jesus- is everything you need?

Transition Statement: Today's lives are no different from those of the 1st Century believers, other than modern advancements and our learning from the past.

Contemporary life includes systems like the internet, cell phones, and tremendous advances in education that the 1st Century did not have.

Today's society is highlighted by man's intellect and passion for solving modern concerns using these tools.

However, the text of John communicates how we will not be successful unless we exercise "Ethical Living within Christ."

This morning, I will narrate you through three ways that the text of John 15:1-8 shows how "Ethical Living" is impactful to our Christian Walk.

The first impact to our Christian Walk is seen through how" Ethical living is easier if we allow God to remove harmful things from our lives.

Explanation: This morning's text starts with "I am," a term used over 300 times throughout the bible.

Turn with me for a minute to John 14:6, where it says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

(John 14:6-ESV) We can see through John 14:6 that Jesus declares himself as the vine.

The selected passage of John uses figurative language to tell us how bad branches can inhibit growth; therefore, God must remove them so that the vine can continue to grow.

John refers to the product of this growth as "fruit."

Now, let's look at how Scripture defines fruit by turning to Galatians 5:22-23, as it is written, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…"

John brings the passage into more precise focus when he tells us that the source of these bad branches exists in Humans when He says, "You are the branches" in verse 5. Furthermore, we can see how Christ tells us how harmful and useless things in our lives are holding the vine from growing- when he references how his teachings have made believers clean in verse 3.

Scripture emphasizes defining what is not good for us- and goes to great lengths to describe items like sin, evil and unhealthy living.

Much like the passage this morning, Paul declares the importance of removing all that negativity when he says,

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetness, which is idolatry.

On account of these the wrath of God is coming."

(Colossians 3:5-6- ESV) In summary, John is telling us how Ethical living is made much easier when God removes unhealthy areas of our life.

Illustration: A workman on a road construction crew told this story of a time when he was working on a project deep in the mountain area of Pennsylvania.

Every morning as he drove to work in his pickup, he would see a young boy at a fishing hole near the road.

He would wave and speak to the boy each day.

One day, however, as he drove slowly past the fishing spot and asked how the boy was doing, he got a strange reply: "The fish aren't bitin' today, but the worms sure are."

When he pulled into the local gas station down the road a few minutes later, he jokingly related the boy's comment to the attendant.

For a moment, the man laughed, but then a look of horror crossed his face, and without another word, he ran to his truck, jumped in, and drove hurriedly away.

Later that day, the man on the construction crew found out what had happened.

But unfortunately, the gas station attendant had arrived on the scene too late to save the boy, who had somehow mistaken a nest of baby rattlesnakes for earthworms and had been bitten to death.

Baby Rattlesnakes, you see, are born with their full venom.

And so it is with many of the sins that tempt us.

They may appear harmless, even colorful, yet they contain the full venom of Satan's poison and will destroy us if we handle them.

Argumentation: Much like the story of the baby rattlesnakes, even the smallest amount of unhealthiness can be prohibitive to our Christian Walk.

Scripture tells us how impactful unhealthiness can be in our lives, as we may not even recognize that things are harmful to us.

John introduces the perfect anecdote for unrecognizable and unhealthiness when He tells us to simply "Abide in Him." Trusting that God will work in our lives to remove the harmful branches within us.

Application: A. J. Jacobs, in his book, Living Biblically, describes his experiment to live a life in full adherence to the more than 700 laws within the Old Testament.

Jacobs concludes how difficult it is to obey all of the Old Testament laws - and sets the stage for the atoning work of Christ.

Even so, how many of you think you would have much success fulfilling the more than 700 laws established in the Old Testament?

Don't you think it would be much easier to give everything to Christ and let Him guide you to a practical Christian Walk?

So, I ask you today, are you "abiding in Christ" so that he can remove that bad branch from your life?

That one bad branch that does not produce any fruit will eventually wither you away?

If you are struggling in your Christian Walk, could it just be that you have a bad branch, and could it simply be that you need to trust God to trim that branch to grow in your daily Christian Walk?

Transition: Now, let's look at the second point from today's passage.

Have you ever been stuck?

Have you ever felt like you were in a rut- and wondered where God was as you called out? Have you wondered if you were doing something wrong- possibly not praying the right way- perhaps not putting God's plan first- maybe not putting others before yourself?

How many of you have wondered what you could change to fulfill God's will?

Even though we sometimes may seem confused about where we are in life, Ethical living assures that you are living according to God's will.

Explanation: This morning's text tells us that God's design for our lives is that we abide in Christ so that we can produce fruit.

Scripture defines fruit as referring to when we are emulating God's character traits of Love, compassion, gentleness, and kindness.

Scripture consistently reinforces the message of how unhealthiness will keep us from God.

Consequently, when we live an unhealthy life, we are not showing that we live a life in His image.

We can see how we are called to live as Christians by looking at 1 John 2: 3-6: "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in him.

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."

To reach God, the 1st Century Jews adhered to rigorous practices of offering sacrifices and purifying themselves so that they could be worthy of God's presence.

Unlike Jews, Christians did not need to show that they were worthy of God's presence through their good works.

Christians, who abide in Christ, have Him to ensure they are always worthy of God's presence.

On the Contrary, Jews believed they could reach God by proving worthy of His holiness.

Jews thought they could simply give a purification offering so that a doorway would be opened to experience God and His character.

Christians no longer need to try to appeal to and please God through their works.

Christians simply need to abide in Christ to communion with God.

Abiding in Him allows us to exemplify a Christian life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Illustration: A certain man used to come home dead drunk each night.

He was always so intoxicated that he would fall into bed fully clothed, pass out, and then snore all night loudly.

Finally, his wife was losing so much sleep because of his snoring that she went to a doctor and said, "Doctor, I can't stand it any longer.

If you tell me how to keep him from snoring, I will pay you anything!"

So the doctor told her that whenever her husband passed out and started snoring, she was to take a ribbon and tie it around his nose, and his snoring would stop.cThat

night, her husband came in, as usual, fell across the bed fully dressed, passed out, and started snoring.

The wife got up, pulled a blue ribbon from her dresser, and tied it around his nose.

Sure enough, the snoring stopped.

The following day, the wife woke up refreshed from a solid night's sleep.

As he was awakening, she asked her husband, "Where were you last night?"

The fully clothed husband looked in the mirror and saw the blue ribbon around his nose, replied, "I don't know, but wherever I was, I won first prize!"