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Lessons from the Garden II
Lessons from the Garden II
- “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
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.
One of the main points of this passage is that the disciple of Jesus Christ will bear much fruit.
So we must ask the question “who is the disciple of Jesus.”
“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.
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.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
One of the main points of this passage is that the disciple of Jesus Christ will bear much fruit.
So we must ask the question “who is the disciple of Jesus.”
The answer of course is the person who loves Jesus and obeys Jesus.
Jesus says this repeatedly throughout chapters 14-17 and it’s a biblical principle that we find throughout Scripture.
It is a biblical truth that -
Jesus says this repeatedly throughout chapters 14-17 and it’s a biblical principle that we find throughout Scripture.
It is a biblical truth that - Love for Christ and obedience to Christ are inseparable.
We cannot profess that “we love Jesus,” while living in sin and disobedience.
Holy, moral and righteous living and are incompatible with willful disobedience.
Love for Christ and obedience to Christ are inseparable.
We cannot profess that “we love Jesus,” while living in sin and disobedience.
Holy, moral and righteous living and are incompatible with willful disobedience.
Now, the serious Bible student (which should be all of us) and the serious disciple (which should be all of us), will stop here and ask a serious question –
Is obedience to the teachings of Christ a regular part of my daily life?
That is a question we must answer because it will reveal if we genuinely love Christ.
And
And Love and obedience are key to living an effective life (i.e.
fruitful life) and a fulfilled life.
Love and obedience are key to living an effective life (i.e.
fruitful life) and a fulfilled life.
I’ll let you ponder all that on your own, but we must take the implication into serious consideration and here’s why – according to Jesus, there are two categories of disciples - those who bear fruit and those who don’t.
There are those whose Christian Faith extends beyond them, and then there are those whose faith goes no further than themselves.
I believe it is absolutely vital for each person to know what category they fall into.
There are eternal implications here that we must pay attention to.
So how do we determine which category we are in?
Hopefully, that will become apparent by the time we’re finished this morning.
Now, Jesus makes it very clear that true disciples, those who have trusted in Christ as the Messiah and obey Him, are the branches.
God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine and the disciples are the branches.
And there is a great expectation upon every branch to do what?
1) Every branch (i.e.
disciple) is expected to bear fruit.
Bearing fruit is not optional.
Producing fruit is not something you do when you feel like it.
Producing fruit is not something you do when you finally get your life together.
No - bearing fruit should be the natural outflow of a real relationship with a real God.
If bearing fruit is expected of the disciple, then we must define “What is fruit.”
Well, I’m here to help answer that.
According to botany, the scientific study of plants,
“a fruit is an entity that develops from the fertilized ovary of a flower.”
So is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?
Fruit!
So are squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants etc., along with apples, melons and mangoes.
End of argument.
But that’s not what Jesus is talking about.
So what is He talking about?
Well, I have always been taught that this passage means that Christians will produce converts.
In other words, if you’re a good branch (i.e.
good Christian), you will lead many people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
So, if I were to ask you, how many of you have personally led someone to Christ, all the good branches would raise their hands and the bad branches would sit in guilt and shame.
And so, if you’re not leading people to salvation, then you are a bad branch and you’re in danger of being be cut off from Christ and thrown into the fires of Hell.
That’s what I’ve been taught.
So, for many years, I’ve been left with somewhat of a love/hate relationship with love this passage, but man it can leave me feeling guilty and fearful.
So what do we do with this?
Again, we need to define fruit?
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I asked God to teach me about Him through my garden.
So one morning, I was sitting on my deck reading, praying, drinking coffee and I looked at my garden and began to ponder.
It dawned on me that I planted each plant with the expectation that each plant would be fruitful and fulfil its purpose.
I expect my Yellow Peppers to produce Yellow Peppers, and my Rosemary to produce Rosemary and my Tomatoes to produce Tomatoes and so on.
I have no expectation for my Peppers to produce Corn or my Tomatoes to produce Cucumber etc. etc.
A whole new understanding opened up to me concerning and fruit!
Now, we know that every branch is expected to produce fruit, but is each branch expected to produce the same fruit?
I don’t think so.
I think It is God’s design that …
2) Every branch (i.e.
disciple) produce the fruit it was created to produce.
And I don’t think it’s the same for everybody.
And I don’t think it’s the same for everybody.
So what is Fruit?
Let me give you two thoughts.
The first is more theological, the second is more practical.
Sow what is Fruit?
Let me give you two thoughts.
The first is more theological, the second is more practical.
Sow what is Fruit?
Let me give you two thoughts.
The first is more theological, the second is more practical.
A) Fruit is the result of obedience.
Whenever we obey God, fruit is produced.
We may not know what is, we may never see it, we may feel like we’re not producing anything (which is often the case), but rest assured, with obedience comes blessing - fruit.
Sometimes that blessing - that fruit is for us, sometimes for others.
But there is always fruit when we obey and the fruit is God’s responsibility, not ours.
The fruit is on His shoulders, not ours.
Look, fruit is not necessarily the goal - love and obedience is the goal.
Look, fruit is not necessarily the goal - love and obedience is the goal.
Fruit goes way beyond just obedience, though.
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