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John 15:1-8
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 “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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
I. verses 1,2
There is a true life source and false life sources. Christ is the only true life source. The father is the developer of the person who’s abiding in Christ.
II. verses 3-5
The Word of God, when received will make one clean. (Eph. 5:25-28) This word is received through abiding in Christ or remaining in Christ. Apart from this abiding in Christ we can do nothing with any lasting importance for God.
III. If we do not remain and abide in Christ we will be unfruitful. Unfruitful branches wither because they have the wrong life source. They are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. The wood in a vine has no real value but to be burned.
- The fruit is the only reason it’s allowed to take up soil.
- Things that make a tree unfruitful (Mark 4:19)
*The deceitfulness of wealth
*Desires for other things
God does not want to make a better you. The best good you have to offer this world is to realize that Jesus can flow through you. He wants you to come into agreement with him that you must die to yourself.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
IV. If we are abiding in Christ, it opens up God’s response to our prayer life! God wants us to produce fruit and when we’re abiding in Christ our prayers are going to be all about God’s will. When God answers these prayers it brings glory to himself.
1 John 5:14,15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
What does it mean to be Fruitful?
Fruit Production is twofold:
1. It is developing the character of Christ in oneself.
2. It’s also being a part of reproducing Christ in others.
The order is significant. A man drowning in sin should not think he has much righteous help to offer another drowning man.
Character
Galatians 5:22-24
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Reproducing Christ in Others
God expects us to abide in Christ and thus be an agent to multiply the kingdom of God into the hearts of others.
The Greek word translated 'bear' in 'bears no fruit' is the word phero, and the Greek word translated 'fruit' is karpos. Both are used in the Parable of the Sower found in Mark 4:1-8
'It came up, grew and produced a crop [karpos: fruit, crop, harvest] multiplying [phero: bearing] thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.' (Mark 4:8).
By using the same Greek words in both teachings, the Bible is showing that producing a crop in Mark 4 and bearing fruit in John 15, are one and the same thing.
Have you ever wondered why some are effective at reproducing Christ in others while some are not? Well, John 15 tells us that when we abide or remain in Christ we’ll bear fruit. I believe this is true but sometimes we can have things that hinder us from being "others" centered that Christ wants to deal with as we abide in him.
The wounded tree is focused on it’s own problems. It has a gaping wound that it must contend with in order to survive. The sap and water that would normally be pushed down the branches and into budding fruit is consumed on this problem.
Luke 13:6-9
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
I believe that in Christ there is healing power for the wounded soul.
I believe there is mercy and grace from the throne of God to heal our hurting emotions.
I believe this healing process takes time but can be accelerated by our pursuit of Christ.
*Overcoming Sin
*Prayer/Bible Meditation/Communing with Christ/Abiding
Christ Life Ministries is also a valuable tool to minister to the hurting soul of people. Please consider being a “Good Samaritan” Pouring on the oil and wine to the wounded. (Luke 10:34)
It’s God’s will that we would be whole and fruitful for him.
People that are treading water, barely keeping their head up, in this life sometimes have a difficult time getting out there and rescuing someone else.
It’s hard to fulfill the great commission when we are drowning in our own problems. Abide in Christ, receive healing, become others focused, and make disciples.
Matthew 28:18b-20
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Then we will have confidence that we are fulfilling our role as fruit bearing disciples of the Lord.
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