The Fruit of the Spirit

Introduction

I want to begin this morning in John the 15th chapter. These are beautiful words, but a misunderstood teaching of the Lord. How many contexts can we say that about? That the words of the Lord or the words of the apostles were misunderstood. And these are right up there as to words that have been manipulated to say things that Jesus did not say. I think it’s important that we understand the context of John 15 to appreciate it even more. This is his last night with his disciples. He is about to go out into the garden to pray and then be betrayed by Judas. Judas has been in their midst this night to some extent. As in John 13, Jesus goes around and watches all the disciples speak.

And this context from John 13 through John 17 is this final occasion with his disciples and his imparting words to them as he is about to leave them, as he’s going to die and then be resurrected. And so these are very important things that he is teaching them on this occasion. I want to read John 15, and I have to verse 8, but it’s really hard to know a good place to start, stop here. So I’m going to go through verse 14. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. This comes on the heels of other I am statements of Christ in the Gospel of John. He’s the bread of life. He is the door. He is the good shepherd. He is the resurrection and the life.

And he is the true vine. And then he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Jesus would often use visual aids to teach his point. We wondered when we studied this several months ago that if Jesus had not already begun the journey out to Gethsemane and they’re seeing the vines as they pass along the way, and using them perhaps as an illustration. But even if that’s not the case, if they’re still in the room, there may be vines in the windows that they could see. And so he draws this illustration of the branch that does not produce fruit. And he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit.

He wants not only productivity, but he will assist further productivity. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. They’re already dwelling in the midst of the vine, he tells his disciples. And he says, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, it’s dependent, of course, on the vine. Unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you. Unless you abide in me. Jesus says, I am the vine, and 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 what do they do with them?

Well, they gather them and cast them into the fire and they’re burned. They’re of no use whatsoever but to be destroyed. And then he says, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish. And it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. Just as the Father has loved me, I have 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 made full. This is my commandment.

But you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this. That one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do whatever I command you. Abide in me. He makes the appeal to his disciples, suggesting that’s going to be dependent upon them. Their response.

Abide in me. He makes an appeal to them. And what do we learn from these statements about Jesus being the true vine and you are the branches? Well, some have come up with the mistaken notion that the branches of this illustration are the varying denominations. People see what they want to see. And so often when they come to this text, one branch is one denomination, another branch. You know, we’re doing this a little bit differently, but we’re all connected to the vine. How creative.

This doesn’t work. When you consider that those who are attached to the vine are bearing fruit, they’re bearing a certain kind of fruit that involves obedience to the Lord, as we read, keeping his commandments. And Jesus says in other places, and if I can still use the plant analogy, every plant which my heavenly father did not plant shall be rooted up. It’s not okay just because you’re a plant. Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father shall be rooted up. He says in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 13, he goes on in this context in John 17 to say that all of his disciples should be one. Again, observing his teaching. Sanctify them in thy truth. Thy word is truth, John 17. This isn’t, you can do religion your way, and I’ll do religion my way.

We can be divided, but we’re all still part of the one big vine attached to Jesus. That doesn’t work in the context of John 13 through 17. It doesn’t work in the context of Jesus’ teaching. It doesn’t work in the New Testament. Again, isn’t it pretty to think so? Well, there’s another idea. I got this book a while back, and it sort of provided some insights to this text. Called Secrets of the Vine. It was a popular seller by Bruce Wilkinson. He’s written a couple of books that people bought up. And this book, Secrets of the Vine, tries to maintain that the statements of verses 2 and 6 aren’t really that bad. Now listen to what he had said. If you don’t bear fruit, he takes it away.

Okay, that doesn’t sound good to me. He takes that away, and then in verse 6, he says, if you do not abide in me, he is thrown away. Well, that’s really a poor translation, he argues. It should say, instead of takes away, that he takes up or lifts up. Well, the only problem with that is these branches that are not bearing fruit are not just taken away, they’re burned. Okay, this sounds pretty catastrophic to me. And really, when you consider what Jesus says in Luke chapter 8 and verse 15, the most immediate illustration of what Jesus is saying in John 15 is Judas. Who’s about to betray him, one of his own, who has been abiding in the vine, is now about to betray him and become a worthless branch.

The most immediate illustration of what Jesus is saying, and the reason why he’s telling his apostles who are about to go through some trials of their own. Judas fits the bill here in John 15. And what does Jesus say about the good seed, the word of God? The honest and good heart is that good soil. And what does it do? As it holds fast the word, what does it do? It bears fruit. Some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. What does it mean that Jesus is the true vine? It means he is the ideal. That he is perfect. You can’t make the I am statements of Jesus unless you’re somebody truly extraordinary. I mean, it would smack of tremendous arrogance otherwise to say I am the door.

1. Bearing Fruit

Somebody said, Tony, you say you’re the door, the door of what? I am the good shepherd. Everybody should follow me. It smacks of arrogance unless you are truly somebody extraordinary and special. He is the sinless Son of God. He’s the Savior of the world. He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is the ideal. He is the true vine. He’s perfect. And we need him. So what I’m talking about this morning, as it pertains to you and I find our sustenance in the vine. Jesus is saying, if you’re going to be one of my disciples, you need to bear fruit. I’m going to look at four concepts that are interrelated in John 15. The first of which is bearing fruit. What does that look like?

What does bearing fruit look like in your life? Here’s some questions that I raise. Are we making progress and becoming more like Jesus? Do I know his will better as time has passed? Am I imitating him in all of my relationships? Are my attitudes improving? Am I finding more victories and fewer defeats in regard to temptation? That’s the importance of Jesus’ teaching. And that’s the importance of this illustration that the vine provides the nutrients that we need to bear fruit. If the vines don’t stay attached to its source, then it can’t produce the fruit. And what fruit we can produce if we stay attached to the vine, he says we’ll even produce more fruit. Sometimes when we talk about bearing fruit, when we talk about bearing fruit most often, we talk about reaching the lost.

We need to be bearing fruit for the Lord. If we are connected to this vine. Remember what we saw in Luke chapter 8 and verse 15? The good seed and the good soil, the good and honest heart, produces fruit. What does that look like? It’s simply meaning allowing Jesus to rule in our lives, our thoughts, our words, our actions, even our motives, why we’re doing what we’re doing. It’s accepting Jesus’ standards for our lives. The final I am statement that he makes is what? I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. It’s about not being ashamed of the fact that we are attached to this sustenance and living by Jesus our Lord. It involves carrying your cross.

And listen.

Yes, you can. It is every disciple’s pursuit. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10 talks about being devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor. That’s a part of bearing fruit. Look at Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 12. What do those who are attached to the vine? What do they pursue? What do they cultivate? If we could use another word related to that, they cultivate or they put on, because they’re holy and beloved, chosen of God, they put on a heart of compassion, kindness, and humility. What does it mean to be attached to Jesus? What kind of things did he display? A true and genuine concern and compassion for others. A lowliness of mind that would serve other people.

Kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Well, that sort of sounds like the fruit of the Spirit that we’re going to be studying this week, and I’ll reference momentarily.

Bearing with one another, forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone. By the way, the FF means verses following. Okay, so young people all go, what’s the FF mean? If it’s one F, it’s one verse. If it’s a double F, it’s more than one. Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. On the way home from services recently, Brett was looking up all of the abbreviations like this that we use. Like, etc. We know that one. Et al, E.G., which means, for example. So that’s what that means. Brett can tell you the Latin it comes from. And beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. What does bearing fruit involve?

It involves being careful to engage in good deeds. According to Titus chapter 3. And remember what we read? He promises to help us bear even more fruit. And thus we get to the slide that my adult class is going to see several times this week. What Paul describes in Galatians chapter 5 as the fruit of the Spirit or the product of true spiritual growth as we are attached to the vine. This is what our lives are to be about as God’s people who are connected to the true mind. It’s the pursuit of these qualities, and they’re interrelated. You can’t practice one without some involvement in the others. They all go together and work together as the recipe of spiritual growth. Well, that’s more on that tonight.

2. Abide in Me: It's Your Move

But I want you to notice this as he talks about the importance of bearing fruit. Then he tells them several times in John 15, and this is where I get the idea of it’s your move. Notice John 15 in verse 4, where he says, and I have this underlined, abide in me. In verse 9, he says, Abide in my love.

It’s your move. That means we go where he goes. Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments. You must keep my commandments. And he says, you will abide in my love in verse 10. Now I know some of the things we’ve talked about this morning. So we talk about bearing fruit for the Lord. Seems pretty challenging. A tall ideal. Somebody said, I just don’t know if I can live up to that. It seems like a lot of effort that has to be involved. And it may not seem very appealing. Okay, but first thing I want to say about that is you don’t want to be the branch that he throws away and burns with fire. But furthermore, there are incentives to do this and to be attached to Jesus, and he will enable and assist you to produce the product that he desires.

It’s not like he said, get out there and make me proud and then leave you on your own. He goes, I’m going to make it so you can even bear more fruit. And so instead of looking at this as some kind of drudgery, and really perspective, it’s all about perspective. I mean, take up your cross, that doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? Oh boy, let me go suffer for the Lord. But remember what’s at the end of all of this. And the Lord’s fellowship that’ll be with you throughout all of this. So let’s work on our perspective a little bit. What’s this really like? I like what one author said about this concept of abiding in Jesus. Really, what it is an invitation to eat dessert.

I like that concept. One of the favorite places my family likes to go eat in Tampa is Burns Steakhouse. They’ll look for any reason, any birthday, to go celebrate at Burns Steakhouse in Tampa. That was one of George Bush’s favorite places to go when he was a president. They’d slip him in the back door and he would eat at Burns. And boys have some nice filet mignon, and you’re going, not now, it’s 1130, I’m getting hungry. But then when you got done with your meal, the really cool thing, and you didn’t even have to eat a meal to do this, you could go to the dessert room upstairs. They had all these little booths that you could squeeze into and you could eat dessert. And that was so cool.

You ever get a chance, you ever in Tampa, go to Burns. Something you’ve got to try once. If we would just look at it this way. It’s going to get a banana split. At Dairy Queen. When it’s been a really long, hard, hot day. You’ve been working in the yard. It’s lemonade and a banana split. And it’s better than that, really. That’s just an illustration. It’s an invitation to come and eat dessert. But you have to make your soul the ultimate priority. Not things, not stuff. That’s less than. Not things, not stuff, not a house, not a car, not this world’s goods. What have you profited if you gained the whole world and lose your own soul? And in regard to this, even more, what we get in the process of this is a relationship with the Lord.

3. By This Is My Father Glorified

That’s what he’s talking about in John 15. We get to enjoy Jesus’ company. We need to get and stay connected to the vine. And then two other words. I want to talk to you about this morning. In verse 8. By this is my Father glorified. You see, when we bear fruit, when we abide in him, when we get in the vine, that’s the first obstacle. Well, I want to go back to that actually. The devil is trying to oppose this on two ways, on two grounds. Number one, he wants you to never get connected. You’ve got to get connected. That’s what he’s saying in John 15. Now he’s talking to people who are already connected to him, but the first thing you need to do is get connected.

That’s where all true sustenance resides and issues reside. And then once you get connected, let me suggest to you that the devil is doing his dead level best to get you to become unconnected. Abide means you get connected and you stay connected. And as you do that, what happens in the process of this is that you glorify God. And that’s what we’ve been about this morning in our worship together. And that’s why the church exists. Now, God is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. According to the power that works in us, he says in Ephesians 3 20 and 21. And it says, to him be the glory in the church. Both now and to all generations, forever and ever. We talk about changing our perspective.

This is an invitation to come and to eat dessert. How should we look at all of this morning? Our perspective about this. We have come to glorify the King of Kings. And again, gain sustenance from Jesus, the true Bi. So bearing fruit, abiding in Him so that we can bear fruit, sustaining that relationship with Him and having as our purpose to glorify Him. And as we do that, what happens in verse 8? He says, By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciple. I wonder.

4. So Prove to Be My Disciples

What are we proven? We are not disciples merely because we claim to be so. Are you proving to be his disciple?

By how we live when we leave these confines. When we walk out these doors, when we face an evil world and all of its allurements and the people that influence us and the evil that we see every day. Do we walk out there with a mission? I’ve got something to prove. And I can prove it because I’m going to bear fruit. Because I’m going to abide in the vine, and I’m going to find my sustenance in the Lord, and I’m going to ask him to help me so that I can bear even more fruit. I’m going to glorify him. And so therefore, I’m going to be careful of what comes out of my mouth. I’m going to be careful about what I allow my mind to entertain and to think.

I’m going to be careful about my activities so that they don’t draw me away from the true vine. I’m going to demonstrate, I’m going to prove that I am loyal to him, that I’m connected to him.

Oh, yes, you need to be a good example to your brothers and sisters in Christ, but I’m not the one you need to convince. The elders are not the ones you need to convince. Oh, they’ll see it if it’s true.

Who you need to be concerned about is God Himself.

Jesus Himself. How does He see my life? How does He see my efforts to be like it? As we said at the very beginning. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. John chapter 10 and verse 10. I know sometimes that the way can seem difficult. As the disciples say in Mark chapter 10. We have left everything. We have left everything and followed you. And really it’s a question. What do we get out of it? There are sacrifices that we’ve had to make. You said it is impossible for a rich man, it’s seemingly impossible for a rich man to enter to the kingdom of heaven. Then who in the world can be saved? And he said, with men it is impossible. God, all things are possible.

And he says, look, everyone who has left things for my sake, everyone who has made sacrifices, everyone who has endured difficulty, that’s what he’s saying. You will receive a hundred times as much in this life. Your life is enhanced, your life is better because you abide in the vine. You will receive a hundred times as much in this life and eternal life. In the age to come. You talk about an invitation to eat dessert doesn’t even do it justice. Jesus isn’t just trying to burden you excessively and to make you miserable and keep you from anything that’s good for you. He wants to make your life better. Richer, deeper. What he created it to be. As he says in verse 11, that my joy may be made full in you.

That’s the offer of the gospel. It’s not, okay, sign on to this so we can work you to death. So we can take all your Sundays. So we can make you have to sacrifice more. Have more stress and strength. How about some persecution too? And that’s what he says in Mark 10, along with persecution. And in the age to come, eternal life. Yeah, that’s part of it. But you’ve got to change the way you look at it. The offer of the gospel is for the joy of a right relationship with the Lord. The joy of knowing that you have his support and help and strength to help you through all of life’s difficulties and storms and the joy of knowing that one day you will be with him in heaven.

Conclusion

Where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for effort. And that’s the invitation. When Jesus says, Come, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And you shall find rest for your soul. Do you need to be connected to the vine? Is there some way that we can assist you in coming to the true vine today? That’s why we sing an invitation song. Let’s stand and sing.