FRUIT BEARERS
John 15:1-6, 16
Prayer
When Jesus said, ìI am the
true vine,î
He was reminding us that
there was another vine.
That other vine appears in
the fifth chapter of Isaiah.
God planted a vine which He
identified as the house of Judah.
He planted Judah in fertile land;
A land of
milk and honey.
He removed all the rocks from
the field so that Judah could grow and produce
fruit;
Fenced Judah in to protect
her;
Built a watchtower to watch
over her;
Built a
winepress to process her fruit.
The harvest neared.
God began to look for good
fruit.
Grapes appeared.
But the grapes werenít sweet
and juicy.
They were wild and sour.
Something was wrong with
Judah's fruit.
Isaiah said God looked for
the fruit of justice.
But He found the fruit of
bloodshed.
God looked for the fruit of
righteousness.
But He found the cry of
distress.
So God decided to destroy the
vine called Judah.
He cut off the rain;
Stopped pruning the vine;
Stopped hoeing around it;
Tore down the fence He built
to protect it;
Allowed thorns and briars to
grow up and choke it.
The people of Judah were
another vine;
A vine that failed miserably;
A vine that God destroyed
Now, Jesus says, ìI am the
true vine.î
All other vines are false
vine.
Jesus is the way, the truth,
and the life.
All other ways are false
ways.
Next, Jesus said, ìMy Father
is the husbandmanî (verse 1).
God cares for the true vine
just like He cared for Judah.
He cultivates the vine;
Waters it;
Feeds it;
Inspects
it.
He looks to see, if the
branches are loaded with good fruit.
Heís much like the farmers of
today.
They fertilize their crop,
spray it, water it, etc.
But when the harvest nears, they
donít look for fertilizers, chemicals or water.
They look for fruit.
Thatís what God does.
He looks for fruit.
What kind of fruit?
I will briefly mention seven
things:
1st----Fruit is
soul winning.
Paul told the Romans, ìI purposed
to come unto you, that I might have some
fruit among youî (Rom. 1:13).
He wanted to win souls for
Jesus.
Our Church should be winning
souls for Jesus;
Impacting
those around us.
2nd---Fruit is
gifts and offerings.
The Christians at Macedonia and Achaia took up an offering for the believers
in Jerusalem.
Paul planned to deliver the
money on his way to Rome and Spain.
He said, ìWhen I have performed
this (or when I have taken your gifts to
Jerusalem) and have sealed to them this FRUIT,î
ìI will come by you into Spainî (Rom. 15:28).
3rd---Fruit is the
expression of our Christian nature.
Paul said the FRUIT of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.
These are produced and shed
abroad by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Church should produce
good fruit in season;
Love when love is needed;
Joy when joy is needed;
Peace when peace is needed.
4th---Fruit is
good works.
Paulís desire for the
Colossians was that they would walk worthy of the Lord,
being FRUITFUL in every good works (Col. 1:10).
Fruitful in
the morning.
Fruitful in
the evening.
Fruitful on
Sunday.
Fruitful on
Monday.
Fruitful
all through the week.
Itís our task to follow
Jesus;
Our task to
do good works.
5th---Fruit is
worship.
Paul said, ìLet us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, that is the
FRUIT of our lips; giving
thanks to His nameî (Heb. 13:15)
Our hymns, prayers and
testimonies are fruit.
If we don't speak of God's
goodness, grace and mercy weíre denying Him His
fruit.
6th---Fruit is the
actions of our government.
When God inspected Judah He looked for the FRUIT of justice (Isa. 5:7).
He looked to see how the
people were treated in court;
How they were treated by
their government.
When God looks at America today, I wonder if Heís sees a government thatís
beginning to show the bad fruit of hostility toward
Christianity.
7th---Fruit is
right living.
When God inspected Judah He
also looked for the FRUIT of righteousness.
If thereís no fruit on a tree,
thereís something wrong inside the branch.
If we donít demonstrate the
fruit of righteousness, thereís something wrong
inside our heart.
If thereís good fruit on a
tree, the tree is healthy.
The righteousness of Jesus is
evidence of the Holy Spirit is inside of the
branch.
Jesus said, ìBy their fruit
ye shall know themî (Matt. 7:20).
So what is fruit?
Fruit is soul winning, giving
to God, good works, how we worship, how we treat
others, the kind of government we have, and right living.
Next, Jesus said, ìEvery
branch in me, that beareth
not fruit He taketh away:î
ìAnd every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it,
that it may bring forth
more fruitî (verse 2).
I want to identify three
things here:
The
branches, the pruning and the purging.
1st---Let's look
at the branches.
Jesus said, ìYe are the
branchesî (Verse 5).
I kind of wish He was talking
about unbelievers.
But Heís talking about us.
He said God puts Christians into
one of two different categories:
(1) Branches that bear fruit, and
(2) Branches that don't bear fruit.
And either way, God is going
to do something to us.
2nd---Letís look
at the pruning.
God prunes the fruitless
branches.
Jesus said, ìEvery branch in
me that beareth not fruit, he taketh
away.î
Christians sometimes wonder
why God allows certain things to happen.
We canít be dogmatic.
But we should always consider
the possibility that God may be doing some
pruning in our life.
I had a neighbor who pruned
or succored his tomatoes.
He got rid of the
unproductive branches:
This is difficult for some in
the Church to accept.
But I donít know any other
way to interpret it.
Branches that donít produce
fruit arenít needed.
Jesus said God cuts them off.
I wonder if this is why some
denominations and Churches are dying out.
Could it be that theyíve
become unfruitful?
Could God be doing some
pruning?
Let me give you a secret.
IF YOU WANT TO PLEASE GOD, BEAR
FRUIT [repeat].
3rd---Letís look
at the purging.
God purges the good branches.
Which branches?
The GOOD
branches.
Why?
Because God
wants us to bear more fruit.
Because He
intends to reward us for bearing fruit.
So He purges us to help us
bear more fruit.
What is purging?
Webster says purging means:
1. ìTo cleanse or rid of impurities, foreign matter or undesirable
elements.î
2. ìTo cleanse of guilt, sin, or ceremonial defilement,î or
3. ìTo remove by cleansing, to clear off, or clear out.î
One time, I had some fruit
trees.
They were attacked by blight,
insects, mildew, and a host of other diseases
and creatures.
I periodically sprayed them.
I did it to make them more
productive.
Thatís what God does.
He purges us of things like
impatience, inexperience, pride, doubt and unbelief.
He does it for our own good.
So regardless of what happens
to us we should realize that Godís in it somehow;
That whatever weíre going
through will work to our own good in the long
run.
Next, Jesus said, ìNow ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken to
youî (Verse 3).
Godís constantly cleansing
and purging us.
We need it every day of our
life.
I couldnít spray our fruit
trees just one time and quit.
I had to do it regularly.
Thatís what Godís doing.
How does He do it?
You are clean THROUGH HIS
WORD.
He uses His Word to convict
us of sin;
To cause us to repent;
To
transform us into healthy, fruitful Christians.
One song says:
ìYou're changing meî
ìYou're changing meî
ìBy the power in your Word, you are changing me.î
The Word of God should be
changing us;
Causing us
to clean up our life.
I shared a secret with you
awhile ago:
If you want to please God
bear fruit.
Hereís a second secret.
IF YOU WANT TO BEAR FRUIT,
ABIDE IN CHRIST [repeat].
Jesus said, ìAbide in me and
I in you.î
ìAs the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more
can ye, except ye abide in meî (Verse 4).
What does the word ìabideî
mean?
Some people have the idea
that they only have to act like a Christian on
Sunday.
Or, when
they have a problem.
Or, when
theyíre with certain people.
But abide doesnít mean we can
switch positions.
It doesnít mean we can be ìin
Christî today;
And ìout of
Christî tomorrow.
Hot today;
And
lukewarm tomorrow.
Abiding means we get ìin
Christ;î
And stay there.
We get in His will;
And stay there.
We have to remain in
communion with Jesus to bear fruit.
We need to attend Church;
Pray;
Study His Word;
Live right, etc.
Now, if we abide in Him, He will
abide in us.
The Holy Spirit will actually
live in us.
And just as the sap flows
from the vine into its branches to feed and nourish
them.
The Holy Spirit of God flows
from Jesus into us to feed and nourish us.
Take the branch off the vine,
And it wonít receive anymore
sap.
It wonít produce anymore
fruit.
Separate yourself from Jesus,
And you wonít receive anymore
power.
And you wonít bear anymore
fruit.
This brings us to something
ominous.
What if a Christian stops
abiding?
Jesus said, ìIf a man abide
not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered and men gather them, and cast them into the fire and
they are
burnedî (Verse 6).
Jesus is saying weíre useless
to God, if we are not bearing fruit.
On another occasion, He put
it this way.
ìYe are the salt of the
earth, but if the salt hath lost its savour,
wherefore with
shall it be salted?î
ìIt is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden
underfoot of menî (Matt. 5:13).
Again He said, ìLet your
light shine before men.î
ìMen do not light a candle
and put it under a bushelî (Matt. 5:15).
Here are three things that
are useless:
Fruit trees
that donít bear fruit.
Salt that doesnít flavor,
And lights
that donít shine.
On another occasion, Jesus
said, ìA certain man planted a fig tree in his
vineyard:î
ìAnd he came and sought fruit
there on and found none.î
ìThen said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard,î
ìBehold these three years I come
seeking fruit on this fig tree,î
ìAnd find none:î
ìCut it down;î
ìWhy cumbereth.
it the ground?î
ìAnd he answering him said
unto him, Lord let it alone this year also, til I
shall dig about it, and dung it:î
ìAnd if it bear
fruit, well;î
ìAnd if not; then after that,
thou shalt cut it downî (Luke 13:6-9).
1st---Notice, that
the owner expected fruit from the tree.
God expects fruit from you.
2nd---Notice,
His patience.
He went to the tree for three
years.
He was longsuffering.
He didnít want to lose the
tree.
3rd---After three
years of fruitlessness, he decided to cut it down.
4th---The dresser
interceded for the tree.
Letís dig around it;
Fertilize it;
Try to revive it.
Give it a second chance.
Letís see if we can cause it
to bear fruit.
If we can revive it, weíve
done a good thing.
If we fail, we will cut it
down.
If we arenít abiding, this
parable is saying God is patient.
He withholds His judgment for
awhile to give us a chance to repent.
He also nourishes us during
that time.
He purges us to get rid of
worldly things that hinder our fruit bearing.
But if all of that fails, He
prunes us off.
Now, this next verse is
tough.
We need to listen CAREFULLY.
Jesus said, ìIf a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is
withered.î
ìAnd men gather them (the
withered branches, not the man) and cast them
(the
withered branches) into the fire and they (the withered branches)
are burned.î
I know Iím splitting hairs.
But I don't think Jesus is
saying unfruitful believers will be burned.
Heís saying unfruitful
believers deserve to be burned.
I want to try to shed some
light on this.
Paul said build upon Jesus
Christ.
He said, ìIf any man build upon. this foundation
gold, silver precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble;î
ìEvery man's work shall be
made manifest:î
ìFor the day shall declare
it;î
ìBecause it shall be revealed
by fire and the fire shall try every man's (yours
and mine) work of what sort
it is,î
ìIf any man's work ABIDE
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward,î
ìIf any man's work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss:î
ìBut he himself shall be
saved; yet so as by fireî (I Cor. 3:11-15).
Believers who donít abide are
still saved.
But just
barely.
They lose rewards in heaven.
Hereís a third secret.
FRUITBEARING IS NOT OPTIONAL
[repeat].
If we donít bear fruit, we
will suffer loss.
John said, ìLook to
yourselves that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward.î
Be careful.
Donít lose the rewards youíve
earned.
Strive to earn more.
Some are going to receive
more than others.
Those who bring forth one
hundred fold deserve more than those who bring
forth sixty fold or thirty fold.
Those who give many years
deserve more than those who give only a few.
Are you winning souls?
Giving to God?
Doing good works?
Thanking and praising God?
Do you bear the fruit of the
Holy Spirit?
Do you require your
government to be honest?
Are you living right?
If the answer is yes, youíre
abiding.
If the answer is no, you may
go through some pruning;
And you deserve to be burned.
Jesus said, ìYe have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you
that ye should go and bring forth FRUIT.î