1/13/2013

True Christians Bear Fruit (John 15:1-27)

Jn15

John 15:1-27; Key Verse: John 15:8 "...that you bear much fruit."

Are you remaining in Jesus? Bearing fruit? What are the fruit that God was us to bear? How do we Christians bear fruit? Consider this: Christian life is not activity without dependency, nor is it inactivity with dependency. Rather, it is activity with dependency simultaneously.

John chaps. 13-17 is known as Jesus' Upper Room discourse, where Jesus shares his most intimate thoughts with those he loves. The cross was only one day away. Within hours, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, falsely tried, beaten, tortured and hanging on the cross abandoned. In less than 24 hours, he would be dead and buried. These were the last words the disciples would hear Jesus say to them before he died. {John 1-12 center on the rejection of Jesus by the world and by his own people/nation (Jn 1:10-11). John 13-17 center on those who received him (Jn 1:12).}

If one thinks of the Scriptures as the temple of God, then John 13-17 is the Holy of Holies--the Inner Sanctuary, where the very presence of God Himself dwells. Jesus the Son speaks exuberantly and mysteriously about his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as the core reality of who he is. Jesus repeatedly expresses to us the dizzying doctrine of the Trinity, from whom we grasp the very core and center of our own human existence.

In Jn 13:1-38, Jesus showed us what God's love is like. In Jn 14:1-31, Jesus comforted his disciples by encouraging them to believe in Jesus as the way to overcome their troubled hearts. Jn 15:1-27 describes how intimately God--the Father (Jn 15:1-3), the Son (Jn 15:4-17) and the Holy Spirit (Jn 15:26-27)--works in the life of true Christians. The inevitable result is that all true Christians bear much fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16), and are hated by the world (Jn 15:18-25). The 3 parts of this sermon reveal how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit works in Christians:

  1. Pruning (Jn 15:1-3): The Father (gardener) disciplines.
  2. Nourishing (Jn 15:4-17): The Son (vine) produces fruitful branches.
  • True Christians bear the fruit of:
    1. Prayer (Jn 15:7).
    2. Glorifying God (Jn 15:8).
  1. Obedience (Jn 15:10).
  2. Joy (Jn 15:11).
  3. Love (Jn 15:12,17).
  4. Friendship (Jn 15:13-15).
  5. Election (Jn 15:16a).
  6. Evangelism (Jn 15:16b,27).
  7. Testifying (Jn 15:26-27): The Holy Spirit (Advocate) testifies about Jesus.
    • Opposition from the world (Jn 15:18-25).

    "Remain" and "fruit" are frequently repeated in John 15. "Remain" occurs 11 times in Jn 15:4-10 and "Fruit" 8 times in Jn 15:1-16. True Christians remain in Jesus, with the result that they bear fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16). Bearing fruit is an absolute certainty because Christians are like branches nourished by the vine. The sole and singular purpose of the vine is to bring forth fruit. What is fruit? Fruit are good results coming from the life of a believer, which brings benefit to others and advances the work of God in the world (Mt 13:8; Gal 5:22-23). The function of the branches (Christians) is not for ornament, but to bear fruit. May God bless you to remain in Jesus and bear much fruit as God intends.

    I. The Father (gardener) Prunes (Jn 15:1-3)

    Jesus is the true vine that replaces fruitless Israel. Vine imagery is very common in the ancient world. In the OT the vine is a common symbol for Israel (Isa 5:7; Ps 80:8), the covenant people of God (Ps 80:7-8, 14-17; Isa 5:1-7, 27:2; Jer 2:21, 12:10; Eze 15:1-8, 17:1-21, 19:10-14; Hos 10:1-2). Most remarkable is that whenever historic Israel is referred to as such it is the vine's failure to produce good fruit that is emphasized, along with the corresponding threat of God's judgment on the nation. Now, in contrast to such failure, Jesus proclaims, "I am the true vine" (Jn 15:1a), the one to whom Israel pointed, the one that brings forth good fruit. Perhaps the most important OT passage is Ps 80:16-17 in that it brings together the themes of the vine and the son of man: "Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself." The true vine is not the apostate people, but Jesus himself, and those who are incorporated in him. The simple, yet mysterious, logic and progression is as follows:

    1. Jesus is the vine.
    2. His disciples are the branches.
    3. The branches derive their life from the vine.
    4. The vine produces its fruit through the branches.

    Sucker shoots suck life away from potentially fruitful branches. God, the gardener, cultivates (cuts/prunes) the vine (Jn 15:1b-2). The role of the Father, the heavenly gardener, is twofold (Jn 15:2):

    1. he cuts and
    2. he prunes.

    A vine left to itself, produces what are called "sucker shoots." As they grow larger, they begin to do exactly what their name suggests: they suck away the life-giving sap from the vine to the branch, which becomes malnourished and eventually dies, all because the sucker shoot was allowed to consume what was originally intended for the branches that will bear fruit. Sucker shoots will never bear fruit. They grow leaves abundantly, but will never produce fruit. They only greatly reduce the quantity and quality of fruit the true branches can bear.

    Fruitless "Christians" are cut off. The fact that the gardener "cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit" insist that there are no true Christians without some measure of fruit. Fruitfulness is an infallible mark of true Christianity. The branch that "bears no fruit" seems to indicate one who is not a true Christian (Jn 15:6, 6:66), even if they claim to be one and may look like one, just like the other branches on the vine. The alternative is dead wood or the sucker shoots that are cut off. These branches are dead with no life in them. They have never and will never bear fruit, or else they would have been pruned, not cut off.

    True Christians are pruned for their own good. Every true Christian is pruned by the Father. No fruit bearing branch is exempt. Doubtless the Father's purpose is loving. It is so that each branch "will be even more fruitful" (Jn 15:2b), but the procedure may be painful. Heb 12:5-6 say, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Prov 3:11-12) Why would God prune and discipline his children? It is "for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness" (Heb 12:10).

    Christians need pruning of their flesh in order to bear good fruit. Branches bearing fruit is brought about naturally by the vine (Jesus). A branch does not struggle to hang onto the vine, trying to produce grapes, or to get larger. It simply stays on the vine and lets the life of the vine produce the fruit. There is a "passivity" in the Christian life. Whenever, we begin to try too hard some other way to produce fruit, our Heavenly Father starts trimming and pruning the branches. Our carnal nature produces characteristics that are quite different from the fruit of the Spirit: lust, worldliness, resentment, bitterness, selfishness, egocentricity, love for praise – qualities that tend to arise within us – God “prunes” them.

    Pruning of the vine is the work of the gardener, not the work of other branches. You can look at a hundred vines and you will never see one branch pruning another branch! Yes, we sharpen each other (Prov 27:17), and "spur one other toward love and good deeds" (Heb 10:24). But the ultimate job of pruning, shaping and otherwise trimming those vines must be the job of someone besides the branches themselves. That responsibility is left to God.

    God's pruning is to enable us to hear his word. Jn 15:3 says, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." The cleansing power of the word Jesus has spoken to his disciples is equivalent to the life of the vine pulsating through the branches. The Greek word translated as “clean,” is the same word that means “pruned.” Jesus is describing the work that goes on in our life. God, the Father, employs circumstances – situations of our life – to make us heed, hear, His word, which then corrects and changes us.

    II. The Son (vine) Nourishes (Jn 15:4-17; 18-25)

    Though Jesus does everything as the vine (passive), we are still responsible to remain in him (active). Jn 15:4-5 is "the Law of Fruitfulness": "Remain in me, as I also 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus declares who he is: the vine (Jn 15:1,5), and what the inevitable result will be to our lives: bearing much fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16). But Jesus also adds a note of responsibility--something we must do and act upon: remain in him (Jn 15:4,5,7,9,10). Jesus gives Christians an almost formulaic mathematical guarantee: "If we remain in him we will bear much fruit. If we don't we won't." What does it mean to remain in Jesus? It means to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus. It means to rest in him, avail ourselves to him, and to depend on him for all things.

    Mechanical aping of Christian conduct and witness do not bring forth fruit. Bearing fruit by remaining in Jesus is not the inorganic growth of external addition (accretion), like the growth of a crystal in an alum solution; it is organic growth, internal growth driven by the pulsating life of the vine in the branch. Only this growth produces fruit. The imagery of the vine is stretched a little when the "branches" are given responsibility to remain in the vine, but the point is clear--

    • continuous dependence on the vine,
    • constant reliance upon him,
    • persistent spiritual imbibing of his life
    --this is the sine qua non of spiritual fruitfulness. The Christian or Christian organization that expands by merely aping Christian conduct and witness, but is not impelled by life from within, brings forth dead crystals, not fruit.

    Responsibility and dependency. How do we "do" taking responsibility and depending on Jesus? How does that work? Is there a balance between what I do and what Jesus does in me? Jesus says to remain in him repeatedly. Clearly we are fully responsible to do so. Yet Jesus says that bearing fruit only happens because all nourishment comes entirely from the vine. Paul expresses this similar tension when he says that Christians are to "work out your salvation...for it is God who works in you" (Phil 2:12-13). Christian life is not activity without dependency, nor is it inactivity with dependency. Rather, it is activity with dependency simultaneously.

What fruit do Christians bear when they remain in Jesus?
  1. Prayer (Jn 15:7). "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." If God's people truly remain in Jesus, they will desire what he desires, and will pray according to his word. Lord, forgive my poor and undisciplined prayer life.
    Glorifying God (Jn 15:8). "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." When God's people remain in Jesus they will bear much fruit and glorify God. Bearing fruit is not about feeling good about myself, but about living out my life purpose which is to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31).
    Obedience (Jn 15:9-10). “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." Obedience is not drudgery or a burden to a true believer; it grows out of a love for Jesus (Jn 14:15,21,23), making it "easy" to obey the one we love (Mt 11:28-30). Love demands a response, if it is to grow. A relationship is limited, can only go so far and cannot go deep, unless there is a response to that love. But if there is a response to love, it will grow deeper, richer, truer, and eventually it becomes a glorious experience. Lord, I do not want to obey you out of fear or guilt, but because of your immeasurable love and grace.
    Joy (Jn 15:11). "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Human joy in a fallen world will at best be transient, ephemeral, shallow and incomplete. But a true believer who remains in Jesus experiences a joy unspeakable and a peace that Jesus gives that is not of this world (Jn 14:27). True joy cannot be attained by human effort or smartness. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
    Love (Jn 15:12,17). "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." "This is my command: Love each other." How can God command someone to love when they do not feel love? Such a question arises from a misconception of love as pictured by Hollywood. Love is not "a sentimental feeling of romantic affection." Truly loving others cannot happen without knowing how Jesus loved us: "as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12, 13:34; 1 Jn 3:16). One who remains in the love of Jesus (Jn 15:9) will love others with the love that they have personally experienced. A good personal assessment: Compared with the past, how am I loving others today? Am I doing the things I used to do when I first became a Christian? (Rev 2:4)
    Friendship (Jn 15:13-15). "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus exemplified the greatest love anyone can demonstrate by laying down his life out of love for others. "You are my friends if you do what I command" (Jn 15:14). Jesus' friends are the objects of his love, and are obedient to him. This obedience is not what makes them Jesus' friends; it is what characterizes his friends. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15:15). What is the difference between a slave and a friend? Slaves are simply told what to do, while friends are informed of Jesus' thinking, enjoying his confidence, and learning to obey with a sense of privilege and with full understanding of his heart. Jesus' absolute right to command is in no way diminished, but he takes pains to inform his friends of his motives, plans, purposes.
  7. Election (Jn 15:16a). "You did not choose me, but I chose you." Where there is the slightest danger that the disciples will puff themselves up because of the privileges they enjoy, Jesus immediately forestalls any pretensions they might have (Jn 6:70,71). The uncomfortable doctrine of election has never anything to do with the merit of the one who is chosen (Dt 7:7-8, 9:4,6; Eph 2:8-9), but entirely everything to do with God's own sovereign choice. "You did not choose me" does not negate the disciples’ willing decision to follow Jesus when he called them. But Jesus is emphasizing that the ultimate factor in determining who would follow him was Jesus’ own choice. The Greek eklegomai has the sense of “to choose or pick out from a group” (Jn 15:19).
  8. Evangelism (Jn 15:16b,27). "I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you" (Jn 15:16b). Many commentators have suggested that the fruit primarily in view in this verse is the fruit that emerges from mission, from specific ministry to which the disciples have been sent. The fruit, in short, is new converts. One purpose of election, then, is that the disciples who have been so blessed with revelation and understanding, should win others to the faith - "fruit that will last." With references to fruit and to its enduring quality, it becomes clear that these closing allusions to the vine imagery ensure that, however comprehensive the nature of the fruit that Christians bear, the focus on evangelism and mission is truly central. That is why the union of love that joins believers with Jesus can never become a comfortable, exclusivistic huddle that only they can share. True Christians, being an extension of the union of the Godhead, by its very nation, is a union, an intimacy, which, by the necessity of its own constitution, seeks to bring others into its orb.

Christ-like, fruit of the Spirit and new converts. To bear fruit is to be Christ-like, "to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29). To bear fruit is to experience and live with the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal 5:22-23). The result is that God will, through us, enable us to win new converts, that is, to "bear fruit—fruit that will last" (Jn 15:16).

III. The Spirit (Advocate) Testifies (Jn 15:18-25, 26-27)

Jn 15:18-25 say, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’"


Christians do not belong to the world not because they are better but because God chose them out of the world. The attitude of believers toward one another is love (Jn 15:17). But Jn 15:18-19 shows the attitude believers can expect from the world. Jesus wants to eliminate the surprise factor when persecution does break out. The world, in John, refers to the created moral order in active rebellion against God. The ultimate reason for the world's hatred of Jesus is that it testifies that its deeds are evil (Jn 7:7). Jn 15:19 says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." Christians do not belong to the world, not because they have never belonged, but because Jesus chose them out of the world (Jn 6:70-71; 15:16). Thus, Christians cannot think of themselves as intrinsically superior. They are ever conscious that by nature they are, with all others, "objects of wrath" (Eph 2:3).

 What is to be the attitude of the Christian toward a world that hates them? Jn 15:26-27 say, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." Jesus teaches that Christians are not to retaliate, resent, be vindictive, or return evil for evil. Nor should they retire from the world, withdraw, build a Christian colony or an insular church to hide away from the world. No, Jesus teaches that Christians are to be witnesses (Acts 1:8) who testify about Jesus and the love of God to the world. We Christians need to move into the world, though we are not part of it.

May God bless you in 2013 to remain in Jesus and bear much fruit--fruit that will last.

Questions:

  1. What does it mean that Jesus is the true vine (Jn 15:1; Ps 80:7-8, 14-17; Isa 5:1-7, 27:2; Jer 2:21, 12:10; Eze 15:1-8; Hos 10:1-2)? What is the role of the Father (Jn 15:1-2, 6; Heb 6:7-8, 12:5-6,10)? Jesus' words (Jn 15:3, 13:10-11, 6:63)? Is fruitfulness an infallible mark of true Christianity (Jn 15:5,8,16; Mt 7:16-20)?
  2. What does it mean to remain in Jesus (Jn 15:4-5,7) and in his love (Jn 15:9-10)? What is the fruit the Father wants us to bear (Jn 15:7,10,11,12,16,27; 14:27; Gal 5:22-23)?
  3. What is the evidence that a Christian is remaining in Jesus' love (Jn 15:9-10; 14:15,21,23; 15:11; 1 Jn 1:4; 1 Th 5:16; 15:12,17;  13:34)? How has Jesus loved his disciples (Jn 15:13; Rom 5:8)?
  4. Who are the friends of Jesus (Jn 15:13-15)? Of God (2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23; Ex 33:11)? What is the difference between servants and friends? How do Christians become Jesus' friends (Jn 15:16, 6:70)? On what basis (Dt 7:7-8, 9:4,6; Eph 2:8-9)? Does fruit bearing involve evangelism (Jn 15:27; Rom 1:13-16)?
  5. Why does the world hate Jesus' disciples (Jn 15:18-25, 3:19)? What should Christians do (Jn 15:26-27; Mk 13:11; Acts 5:32)?
  • How has Jesus loved you? What fruit are you bearing?
References:
  1. Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1991. IV. Jesus' Self-Disclosure in His Cross and Exaltation (Jn 13:1-20:31), C. The Farewell Discourse: Part Two (Jn 15:1-16:33) 510-530.
  2. Keller, Tim. You Are My Friends (Jn 15:9-17). Jan 19, 1992.
  3. Jesus' Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17). An excellent 45 page pdf document.

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