John 15, What’s It Look Like?

The True Vine and the Branches

John chapter 15 be reading the whole chapter and in chapter 16 verse 4 hear the word of the Lord. I Am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. 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. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I and you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine and Neither can you unless you abide in me.

I Am the vine you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I and him he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me. You can do nothing If anyone does not abide in me. He is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples as The father has loved me.

So have I 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 full.

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, but the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for all that I heard from my father. I have made known to you. You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear much and you should bear fruit and That your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the father in my name He may give it to you.

These things I command you so that you will love one another. If the world hates you. Know that it has hated me before it hated you if you were of the world. The world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world.

Therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me. They will also persecute you if they kept my word. They will also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me hates my father also if I had not done among them the works that no one else did. They would not be guilty of sin. But now they have been they have seen and hated both me and my father.

But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. They hated me without cause. But when the helper comes whom I will send to you from the father the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father.

He will bear witness about me and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. I've said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues indeed.

The hour is coming whenever whoever kills you will think he is Offering service to God and they will do these things because they have not known the father nor me. But I have said these things to you that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

May the Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word. Well, I remember the first time I showed Mary email. Back in the mid 90s, I think she had heard about it before she heard about it for a while.

But she was amazed when I first showed it to her how easy it was. You know, you don't have to haul a long address on it. Just the little one name. You don't have to put a in an envelope and then don't stamp.

Send an email and said that's it. When she for you know, that just was just revolutionary, you know when you've heard of something. But never seen it before you might be surprised what it looks like. Now two weeks ago. I ran a very small race here in Castle County that I got the feeling the organizers.

You know kind of heard about Foot races, maybe they heard about the Boston Marathon seeing pictures of it on the TV, but they didn't really they never really seen one. One telltale sign when it came time to announce the finishers in their times.

They only announced the minutes not the seconds. That's just kind of weird. Well often people don't know what something is supposed to look like if they've only heard of it. They've heard of a family.

But they've grown up the family they've grown up in is so broken and twisted they don't know what a real one is. No, a family is not where the father is always away and even he's around. He hardly pays any attention or maybe it does paying you any attention is probably to beat you.

The mother is out. Is not in a real family always out looking for another man or is always high and if she speaks to you is to scream. Discipline is either entirely missing or abusive or maybe both people raised in families like that really don't know what a family is and Probably want to flee that for what they think is a relationship.

The problem is They probably don't know what that is either and so they'll get involved in sexual immorality at a young age thinking that's what a Relationship is. If they're a girl they're a prime target for an abuser and then both male or female will perpetuate the cycle of Dysfunctional families absentee fathers kids raising themselves in front of TVs and you can tell them that they need to have Healthy relationships and stable families and they will think they agree with you.

They're not gonna argue. But they have no idea what one looks like. I Think in this area. There's a lot of people who think they know what the church is. Without any real idea what one is supposed to look like.

First they think it's a building and it certainly doesn't look like a gym. They know that then as for the people they probably wouldn't even notice that most of them. Most churches are segregated by race.

It would probably never occur to them that the church isn't supposed to look like that. If they're traditional they may may have very strong ideas of what it's supposed to look like. The men especially the preacher they would call him.

Always got to wear a suit and tie Sunday morning Sunday best reading from a 400 year old translation singing hymns and everybody says I'm in. Which they don't say elsewhere, but they that's their special lingo when they're in church.

They do then services over. They do some small talk and then they're out the door if they're more contemporary. They think it looks like a show. There's lights and a band and a speaker wearing shorts talking to them about how cool Jesus is.

They may even have props on stage that sort of symbolize the current theme of Sermons, which are maybe they call them sermons messages about whatever series they're doing, you know, if it's about the family.

They have props on stage look like a living room something like that. That's the that's what it's supposed to look like. It looks like a stage a theater and both of them the traditional the new kind. We'll talk a lot about how many decisions they've seen our baptisms or whatever if they've seen any.

That's the one thing they agree on the one thing that really drives them both. The church is supposed to look like a respectable winning machine. Then of course we have many who just drop out of church altogether.

Cynically criticizing them all is they're just all part of big religion. Just this business bilking the people out of their money for this religious business. And they believe to the bottom of their heart that the church is totally unnecessary to following Jesus.

And that's what they say. They're interested in following Jesus. They don't want all this mess this politics and uncomfortableness. I'm having to be with these other people and the disappointments that come with it, especially those overly long and boring sermons.

My goodness, I don't want to sit through that and then comes it all comes all this baggage that comes with rubbing elbows with these church people it's just Jesus and me and That's all they care about living together.

That's what they say. They think the Christian life looks fine without the church in it. But what does the Christian life look like? That's what Jesus is describing here partly in a little parable or a picture and it it looks a lot different Than we may have thought and we see that here in four parts.

First we see what constitutes the Christian life. Second, what is its root? Third, what is its fruit and finally its dispute? First what constitutes the Christian life in other words, what is it made of?

What gives it its heart what makes it alive? Jesus has apparently left the upper room for Gethsemane. He said at the end of chapter 14 where we ended last week that he said rise let us go and all they and all that we have here in chapter 15 may have been said while they were walking together and if so, they may have passed in front of the temple where it above the entrance gate of the temple compound was a carving of a great vine.

Which harken back to the days when Moses sent in this remember they sent in that team of 12 men to scout out the promised Land and they came back with a vine so large with a bunch of grapes on it. So huge that they had to carry it, but you know on a pole between two men and so since then Israel has often been pictured in the Old Testament many times as God's vine or his Vineyard, and so it doesn't say this is sort of speculation.

But perhaps they pass in front of that sculpture that carving and as they're walking together and Jesus said to them You know, there's I am the true vine. I'm the true one. And so this now this I am statement.

This is the last of seven. I Am statements in the Gospel of John. There's been seven times. Jesus says I am Something here. I am the true vine in contrast to the false vine. Which is the nation. The natural people who had who had not borne the fruit that they were supposed to.

Here Jesus is bearing fruit. He's glorifying God. He's doing the Father's works. He's loving his people to the end. So he's the true one. What constitutes the Christian life? Well, here's a picture of it.

He gives us a picture it begins with Jesus himself Being the vine the main Trunk of the vine from all from which the branches and the fruit comes and he repeats that in verse 5 and he then he Adds to the picture.

So he's the vine. He's the main source. Or is the really the source? That's the main one. Not this is any other he and we are we are his fruit where his branches we are produced by his life. And so we are no more capable of producing our own life.

Than a branch of a grapevine is capable of making grapes if you cut it off from the vine. Once you do that, it's not gonna make any more fruit. Is it you've got a branch off no more grapes is coming from that what you just cut off as he'll say later apart from Him you can do nothing.

We can't we by ourselves can't produce faith or love or anything good. Then to add to the picture. All right. Jesus is the main vine or the branches the father is the because the vine dresser. He's the the farmer in this vineyard and the father does two things in his job.

As the vine dresser first in verse 2 he cuts out cuts away the lifeless and second He cultivates the living. If a branch that appears to be attached to him if it claims to be Christian maybe goes to church.

Maybe claims he doesn't need to go to church either way says he or she says. They're attached to Christ. Professes to be a believer. Maybe has some kind of testimony of responding to an invitation way back when but he or she bears no fruit.

His or her life. Is it really any different? It's just as materialistic or as racist or as sexually messed up as the average person around him. Doesn't support the mission of Christ to make more people attached to him.

That's a fruitless person and such a person is cut out he says you know, maybe some offense provokes him. Like the music I like those contemporary songs. You should have more contemporary songs, whatever it is.

I don't like he's not wearing a tie. I don't like the fact he's wearing long pants. Whatever it is a person some perceived slight. Maybe the gospel itself. Just maybe finally annoys him or her too much all this talk about how I can't do anything by myself.

You know without him that I can't do nothing that's offensive to the prideful person. Maybe he's drawn into some cult. Or maybe one over but some atheist mocker. You know who's undermined his faith or maybe he here she chooses to pursue sexual immorality.

Chooses that rather than to keep up this fiction of being a Christian so he or she drops out. Maybe it doesn't even claim to be a Christian anymore. Now, that's sad. Just like it's sad to have a branch.

You know, if you're a vine dresser you have a vineyard. Sad to have a branch on a vine that doesn't bear fruit. That has to be cut out. But of course, it's better to cut it off. Than it is to pretend, you know, it's still part of the vine.

It's still fine. I'll give it some more time. Whatever pretend it's just a carnal branch. Maybe that's reason it's not bearing fruit. It's a carnal branch. Maybe one day this branch will decide to make to make the vine Lord.

You know the bench believes the vine is the Savior but not the Lord. Maybe then it'll make the vine Lord and then it'll start to bear fruit and until then we should let it stay attached. You know many modern Christians seem to think that the worst thing that could happen to a church is if it loses people.

That is better to keep people at all costs, even if they're not bearing fruit. Don't cut any audio out. But here's no the father. He's the gardener of our Christian life. Well, he doesn't do things that way.

He cuts out The lifeless notice here. There's no such thing as a fruitless branch. Not if it's really attached. It's not fruitless. If a branch has no fruit, the father just lops it off and Then it's taken.

He's thrown away in the fire in verse 6. Anyone who doesn't abide who is a stay does it remain in Christ? Attached to him gaining their life from him is he says thrown away and burned. The sort of hints of hell there seems to me.

Now the idea that everyone who professes to be a Christian is one and is spared judgment. Because of so-called grace. That idea is exposes wrong here in this whole picture. Right, there are in this picture.

Jesus has portrayed of the Christian life. There are some who appear who profess to be attached to Christ or church members, whatever. However, they say they're attached to Christ, but they're fruitless and the reality is they are gonna be cut out.

The reality is if you're saved by grace. You are really attached to Jesus the vine who gives you life to produce good fruit. And that's the second group. What's the Christian life look like. Well, it is fruitful and if you do bear fruit.

You know in some ways. Your life is more like Christ now and you're not gonna be perfect. Sure, we understand that but you're more loving and patient and kind Than you used to be. You're not perfect, but you're better.

You're learning self-control. You're not swept away into immorality. You're seeking first the kingdom of God. Not dollars you want to be used to see God's kingdom spread on earth. You're doing that of course not because you have such good judgment.

You met you made the right decisions you applied yourself. No Jesus says in verse 5 apart from me. You can do nothing. Your fruitfulness is only because you are part of him. And if you do that, you will be.

Here's the good news people. You'll be pruned that sounds painful. It's because it is. Now you won't be cut off. But you will be cut. That's what a good gardener does to their vines. Okay, or the rose bushes or their crepe myrtles.

Whatever it is. They want to see flourish. Those they need to be pruned so they'll flourish even more in the future. One problem, of course is you know, you prune a plant plant plants don't care. Plants don't have a central nervous system.

They're not gonna feel anything but we do and we are we are hurt and Pruning is often painful. Indeed, sometimes it's the pain itself that causes the new fruitfulness eventually. Causes us to grow. You know hardly ever did we become more fruitful because of the good times the easy successes the money flowing in.

Just makes us more godly. Doesn't usually work that way. The popularity makes me more like Christ. Probably not. The pleasures just make me more enjoying of the Lord. Probably not most often. It's because something is cut off from us something we were too attached to a Relationship we were depending on the wealth that we wanted to bunch the success that puffed our ego.

So the father pruned us. Cut a little something off, you know after the spring after the summer we got a little too wild a little too bushy. During during the fall. He takes some shears to us before the winter.

So that come next spring will be more fruitful. That's what the Christian life looks like. Sometimes sometimes it looks like losing something dear to you something that hurts. Something you wanted so badly and now you have to recover for a while.

Do a long hard cold Winter. Apart from him we can do nothing. How exactly are we part of him? How do we get life from Jesus sounds very mystical? What does it mean? Well, he tells us in verse 3. Already speaking to his disciples you are clean or Pruned it could just as well be translated.

You are you're already pruned. It's a variation of the same word as pruned in verse 11. Verse 2 he's telling us that we are clean or pruned and he says because of The word that I have spoken to you and there's the Word of God Disciplines us and corrects us.

They have these disciples have been pruned. They've been corrected. They've had some pain because some of the words Jesus have said to them. It is that what scripture says later the washing of water with his word that cleanses us.

Sometimes it might sting especially if you're infected with sin and We clean that sinful infection with a soap and water of God's Word. It stinks sometimes. This shows us what is so wrong with what many people think the church, you know should look like the preacher or speaker.

They should tell us what we want to hear. He's got to make us feel good. It doesn't make us feel good. Something's wrong with him. If it's what he says stings something really wrong with him and here Jesus says that these disciples are cleaned or pruned.

Because his words Have pruned them because they've stung. So here's a picture of the Christian life. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. The father is the careful gardener pruning snipping. Here and there we get our life our ability to bear fruit from Jesus.

But how do we do that again? It just sounds kind of mystical. The word Jesus uses though over and over is abide or could be translated remain. You remain attached to Christ now something. This is entirely passive.

You know, we just kind of throw up our hands. And tell God we're abiding. Don't strive just abide some people slogan. But that's not the case here. Notice in verse 7 is how we abide if you abide in me and my words.

Abide they remain in you notice the two abidings. So whatever it means for us to abide in him or to remain to dwell in him is the same as how his word should remain. Dwell live in us so. How is the word live in us?

It's not something if it's abiding if it's remaining. Is this not something we occasionally expose ourselves to is it not just every now and then. But get a little a little something of it like basting a turkey and butter or gravy something like that.

We brush it on every now and then before it gets too dry maybe Christian life we. We read a verse or chapter. Occasionally listen to a sermon once a week. So so we don't get too dry. No, that's that's not really.

Abiding doesn't seem to me doesn't it would seem to be more like boiling or deep-frying. You stay in it. We stay absorbed in the word. We reminding ourselves of it saturating ourselves in it meditating on it memorizing it singing it.

We have a great bandage in our day we have we can turn on a radio listen to sometimes there are songs that Scripture set to music listen to it. We we live constantly in the word like a fish abides in water.

Fish only goes into water like once a week. It's probably not gonna abide. Then notice also in verse 7 we ask God. That is we pray. We immerse ourselves in the word and we pray that's how we abide those two things.

It's word and prayer and if we're doing that we can then ask for whatever. We wish. Well, that sounds good. Doesn't it now we get to what we want now. Does that mean now finally we can ask for that Cadillac that wealth that gadget that stuff we want.

Yeah that money that big bank account. I always wanted that. This is our this is a step-by-step plan. To that wealth. What do you think after you've saturated yourselves in the word. You go to Jesus's word where he tells us seek first the kingdom of God.

To beware of all kinds of greed to set your affections on things above. Do you think after you saturated yourself in that that you'll still want first and foremost? Cadillacs and big bucks and stuff. Probably not if you do.

You probably haven't really had God's Word abide in you yet. If you have the word abide in you. What you want is transformed you want God's glory. God's kingdom his rule in your life. We wish above all to abide in Jesus like Psalm 63.

We've had today earnestly. Sincerely and zealously do we seek you. Oh Lord our soul. Thirst for you. It's in a dry and weary land. Everything this world is trying to distract us with these things that we used to want.

We think maybe some prosperity teacher told us we could use God's Word to get it's just dry and weary. That's not what I want. So that's what you pray for you pray for for him. For him you to be for you to be satisfied with him and if you do that.

That's what you get. Sometimes it may take a while you take some weaning like you wean a baby. It may take a while to be weaned. It'll be done for you. So what does the Christian life look like this vineyard?

What's its roots? Where does this life come from? What anchors it to the ground so it doesn't just blow away. Is it duty? You know, we're God's slaves. We got to do what he says. Whether we like it or not.

Is it family? We've inherited this faith from our family. And so we have to stay at it. What's the root? Well, it has three surprising interwoven inseparable roots, maybe you say they're one root with three branches in verses 8 to 11.

Glory love and joy. By this in verse 8 is my father glorified. You're wanting to glorify the father. A root of our Christian lives is that we yearn to glorify God. We want to make him valued first by our own Lives.

I can saw him 63 but also by others. We don't come to church so that we can be seen as the big man or a big woman, but that Jesus would be. We want his word. We want his kingdom to triumph. We want people to make God more than they want cash or relationships or thrills.

That's that's what we want to be like we want others to be like by wanting that we glorify God. We we make him. Can't say he make him appear bigger than he is. We make him appear bigger than we used to think he appeared.

Seeking to glorify God proves you're a disciple and itself glorifies God. It's a root of the Christian life. The root of the Christian life is love. The true Christian loves God. That's why he or she wants to glorify God.

Here she loves God because God has first loved us here in verse 9. Jesus says he loved us. Look at that verse 9 as. How much did he love us as this is Jesus speaking as? In the same way. I've loved you in the same way as the father loved me.

That's an astounding statement. You stop and think about that Jesus speaking to his church. I've loved you in the same way to the same degree with the same kind of love that the father Has loved me. It means that the same love the father eternally had for the son.

And think about who he is the son who was perfect who had nothing about him not to love. Who was perfectly fit for love that same love He the son had for us. We who were not perfect who had a lot about us not to love who were really just unfit for love.

But he loved us with that perfect love anyway. He graciously decided to love us and loved us in the same way that the father loved him. Then there's another abide out of abiding staying remaining here we abide in his word.

Here we remain we abide. He says telling us abide in my love. That is bask in it. Let it immerse you. Sing about it amazing. Love amazing grace other songs like that, but just let it just saturate you this idea that God's great love for us.

How how do you do that? And also notice the verse 10. We do that by he says I just singing songs by keeping his commandments. Again, that strikes us a little weird today. Doesn't it when we're told that love and commands are Incompatible, but they're not.

If you love God because he first loved you you will keep his commands by doing that. You show your loving God by keeping his commands by obeying him you stay in the father's love. Love is a root of the Christian life.

So is joy. It's not driven. Christian life is not driven just by grim duties. You have to make yourself do it. Oh, I gotta go to church again. It's so tired of it. So long-winded you just do it because you fear the consequences.

You do it for the joy that's in it because you enjoy it. Notice verse 11 and think of the context here. This is the night that Jesus was betrayed. He's facing this horrendous experience. It's just waiting hours away from him of betrayals and beatings and crucifixion.

All that yeah, of course, he's troubled by it. He's about to sweat so much it flows like blood as he prays father. If it be your will take this cup from me. Hebrew says that he despised the shame, but he did it in Hebrews 12 for the joy.

Set before him there's some something that he enjoyed in what he was about to experience so great that it outweighed the pain he was about to experience and Hear that joy. Came from giving us joy. Notice verse 11 these things that I've spoken to you and it was about glorifying the father.

Abiding telling us to abide in his his love by keeping his commands all that. He's saying this. That my joy may be in you. Again, you think of the context he's right. He's going to his betrayal and As he's saying this is his walk into this place of betrayal.

What does he want? What's he talking about? He wants us to share in his joy. Our joy was on his mind. At this time. Despite everything else that he's facing, you know things of it's probably just overwhelm us facing all that yet.

Still he he's thinking of us that we would have joy he wants us to have his joy that that we don't live in a universe a meaningless death and just eventual destruction where everything is gonna eventually mean nothing.

We live in a universe with a loving father and a Son who loves us just as he has been perfectly loved for eternity. Have have a joy of a life like that and may our joy he says at the end of verse 11. He this is what he wants.

He's saying this so that our joy would be full completely blooming. You look at your life and Sure. Sure, you've been pruned from time to time. You've suffered some cutting you've lost some things but you look at it you're just overwhelmed.

That you've had so much good. You just think what what joy? Those are the roots of the Christian life glory love and joy. What's the fruit then? We're to bear much fruit. He said in verse 8 to prove were disciples.

What is it? Let's love. Love for God is a root. Love for each other is a fruit and he gives us again the command to love each other again. To do it as I have loved you. Sacrificially willing to lay down our lives for our friends.

There's no greater example of love than to be willing to give your life for someone. You know, we're coming up later this year to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. And while we often like to talk about the Reformation as a triumph of God's truth a rediscovery of the gospel a release from the bondage of Dead religion.

It was also a fruit of love. You know Martin Luther and others they. Martin Luther loved his people the people in his church. He was a pastor in his church that he preached to and when he rediscovered the gospel for himself.

He didn't hated the idea that his people were being taken advantage of by a religion that promised to Release them or their loved ones out of the torment of purgatory if you just paid the right price.

By this thing and you you get out of purgatory. And so 500 years ago this year he posted 95 theses to protest this bilking of his people he didn't like to see them taken advantage of and lied to and. That eventually led to his standing trial before King Charles the fifth of the Holy Roman Empire.

And which Luther was willing to take a stand that had cost others their lives before him. He knew very well. He could die for what he was doing. But he was willing to lay down his life for his friends so that they could be free.

That's love. Now here Jesus now laying down his life for his friends so that they could be free. He calls us friends if we do what he commands. Don't call yourself a friend of Jesus and didn't disobey him.

That's you're fooling yourself. But we're not just slaves who do what we're told. We're his friends. He says working with him to bear much fruit again. The root is a is the his God's prior love for us.

And the fruit is our love for his people. But here he says that he did not we did not choose him. At least not first. We chose him after our choice for him is not the cause of his choice for us. It's the other way around.

You know, he says you did not choose me. I chose you. If we think we're now his friends because we made the right decision. We're the smart ones who saw that we should choose to follow him. We don't realize that his decision came first his decision caused our decision.

He first chose to befriend us and call us and when we heard that call. Then our chains fell off. Our heart was free. We rose went forth and followed the. Well, he did that he chose us first. He says to go and bear fruit.

For a purpose not just to kind of bath in it, but clearly that fruit has multiple meanings here here go. Go Out of where you are now. To find other people lost sheep. You love his people. Some of those people are out there.

Still waiting to be found. But go find other people to abide in Christ go on a mission go to Yancey Ville go to North Hills apartments. Go to friends go to your own children. Maybe make other people who love him who keep his commands who bear much fruit, too.

And this fruit he says. The other words these people who now are cling to Christ. That we should go to and should abide should last. Not just converts who make a decision. Because they came down an aisle once and then you never see them again.

But they stay. They bear fruit, so what's the fruit. Well, they to Love God's people. But first before you get there, what's the food we get there? What's the fruit? You bear fruit. He says in order that in verse 16, whatever we ask the Father in Jesus his name.

Whatever you're asking for in his name. For his sake. Okay that for his name is not just a tag you put on the end of it. It means for his sake for his glory because we love him to fulfill his mission.

Telling us to go for that mission. We pray and whatever we ask for he will give it to us and Jesus wants us asking the Father and he wants us getting what we asked for and to do that. We have to bear much fruit.

Now. What's the fruit? Well, he told us that already. Told us at the beginning it's important enough. He has to repeat it verse 17 to love one another. Love for God is the root love for each other is the fruit.

That's what it looks like. Now there's the one then who drops out of church because there are too many hypocrites in it. Because he doesn't want to be bothered with a hassle of church politics and hurt feelings and bruised egos overly long sermons.

Whatever his excuses is. Does he or she? Love one another. Is he or she loving other believers? By refusing to spend time with them to give to them to take their fair share of supporting the ministry.

Ask yourself that as you look around think of the people who aren't here. Because you know right now they're at home at Bed Springs Baptist. Are they loving you. Are they? No, they're not. The Christian life doesn't look like sitting at home on the couch.