Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Have you ever wondered why there are some Christians who seem to be on a completely different level than others?

They talk about God answering their prayers, appear to be unshaken when they go through trials and adversities, and seem to have the hand of God upon their life and in everything they do?

Is it that they are some kind of super Christian or do they have some secret connection with God that no one else can ever have?

I submit to you that there is no such thing as a super Christian, or someone who has a secret connection with God.

There is no hierarchy system when it comes to God, for the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

However, there is something unique about those who were just described.

Tonight, I want you to see that you too can be numbered among these individuals.

You can be numbered among them because what they experience, you can too.

This is because they have been recipients of blessings that come from abiding in Christ.

That is the goal of tonight’s message, for you to not only see that there are blessings but to desire to be a recipient of the blessings that come from abiding in Christ.

As we begin tonight, if you will, turn in your Bible to John 15 and we’re going to read verses 5-11.

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Recap

Over the past several weeks, we have been in this chapter and have looked at a number of different things.

We first of all noticed that Jesus Christ identified Himself as the True Vine and His Father as the Husbandman.

Secondly, we took note of how in verse 2, Jesus spoke of there being true and false branches that He referred to as being in Him.

The false branches were those who were not truly saved.

They did not produce fruit because they were not truly in Christ, they were simply associated with Him.

An example of this was Judas Iscariot.

The true branches on the other hand, are those who produce fruit.

Regardless of the quantity of fruit, the believer produces fruit.

This brings us to a third thing we discussed and that is the kinds of fruit produced.

They are, the fruit of conversions, righteousness, and Christ-like character.

Then, last week, we talked about the necessity of abiding in Christ.

It is essential for us to abide or continue in Christ because we cannot do anything without Him.

He is the source of life and nutrients which enable fruit to be produced in the Christian’s life.

Now, let’s look at the blessings of abiding in Christ.

We are in the same scene as we look at verses 5-11.

Jesus and His 11 disciples were making their way to the garden of Gethsemane.

On the way, He speaks of the branches who are in Him, let’s them know that although they are positionally clean in Him (v.3), they need to continue in Him.

As a result of continuing in Him, there will be many blessings that are not only evident in their life but that others will in turn be blessed by.

Christ’s words could not come at a more important moment than on this night.

As Jesus would leave the scene not long after this, His disciples would be put to the test.

Therefore, He is preparing them to deal with the onslaught of opposition by demanding them to remain in close fellowship with Him, then after verse 11, He proceeds to talk about how their relationship with one another should be.

Today, the words that Christ spoke to His disciples, are just as prevalent and important.

If we are going to be disciples of Christ and be continually producing fruit in our life, we have a need to remain or continue to walk closely with Him.

As you do so, you will experience at least 4 types of blessings.

These blessings will not only be experienced by you and visible to you, but to others as well.

Let’s look at the first blessing,

Abiding Produces Much Fruit (v. 5)

When we discussed the two types of branches that are “in” Christ, we learned that the production of fruit is an evidence of salvation and it is, but it is also a blessing of abiding in Christ.

We never really got into the reality that Christians produce various amounts of fruit, but it is something that we can all easily see in this passage.

If you will, look at verse 2. Notice how there are believers who bear fruit, then as a result of the Lord’s pruning, there is the potential for bearing more fruit.

It’s not a guarantee though.

Now look at verses 5 and 8.

There are some who produce much fruit.

This is directly related to the believer abiding or continuing in close fellowship with Christ.

So, for example, there are some believers who win many people to Christ and others who do not.

There are some who are more Christ-like than others.

There are some who have a better understanding of the righteousness of Christ within them, that is made evident in their walk and talk, whereas there are others who have not reached the same understanding.

These things have nothing to do with salvation, but everything to do with the fellowship that believers have with Christ.

The closer one walks with Christ, the less they live for themselves, which subsequently results in them producing more fruit.

Remember what I said last week.

Little fellowship, little fruit.

Close fellowship, much fruit

Hindered fellowship, hindered production of fruit

Unhindered fellowship, untapped potential for producing fruit

The believer who does not produce much fruit in their life, fails to do so because they are allowing other things to crowd out the would-be fruit in their life.

God applies the pruning shears to every believer, but some do not allow the Word of God and circumstances and trials God uses to grow them.

The pruning occurs, but no new growth occurs.

Rather, they remain where they want to be.

It may be sin that they are not dealing with, or their own self interests.

It could be a refusal to yield certain areas of their life to God.

It may also be that they are disobedient to God and His commands for them.

Whatever it is, they are making a conscious decision to be as far as they want to be spiritually.

The believer on the other hand who receives the blessing of producing much fruit in their life, they get to see God’s hand at work in their lives.

As we continue to walk in Him, we essentially put ourselves aside and allow Him to work in and through us.

They receive the pruning and grow as a result.

If there is going to be anything good and fruitful in our lives, it will be only because and when we continue or remain close to Christ.

When it comes to leading people to Christ

We not only experience the blessing of producing this type of fruit, but I think the blessing comes more from us seeing God’s hand at work in the lives of others, which come as a result of Him working through us.

ILLUST: When you are involved in leading someone to Christ, yes you are producing fruit, but in reality, Christ is the one behind it all.

You are simply attached to Him and are the vessel from which the fruit blossoms.

POINT: You get to watch God at work.

APPLY: When you get to watch God at work, you are blessed because you see lives transformed.

What was once nothing, over time that nothing became a bud, then eventually it fully blossomed into a piece of fruit.

You were simply the vessel through which the life giving nutrients flowed to allow for fruit to grow.

So we see the blessing of producing much fruit when it comes to leading people to Christ, but we also see it…

When it comes to Righteousness

Remember, righteousness is not something we can obtain on our own.

If anything, the Bible is clear, we are all unrighteous and any kind of self-produced righteousness is as filthy rags.

At salvation, however, we receive the righteousness of Christ.

Remember, this is an internal change that is reflected externally.

So, does the righteousness come from us? No.

It is from Jesus Christ.

However, we are blessed by it because what we could never do on our own or in our own power, we now have the ability to do because of Christ.

We are blessed because whereas we once stood guilty before God with absolutely no hope at all, we now can stand blameless before Him, because of Christ.

As we abide in Christ, the internal change and external manifestation of that change only continues to be seen more and more.

When it comes to Christ-like Character

This sort of overflows from the fruit of righteousness because as we abide in Christ, the fruit of the Spirit becomes more of a reality in our lives.

Remember, it is one fruit, but many traits.

Why do these traits become more of a reality?

Because as we walk in close fellowship with Christ, the old traits that we possessed as unbelievers and even the ones that are still present today in our fleshly nature, will be replaced with the spiritual traits of Galatians 5:22-23.

LoveOur selfish love turns to selfless loveJoy Our lack of or tainted joy turns to abounding joyPeace We go from having no true peace to lasting peace that passes understandingLongsufferingWe go from being impatient to being able to suffer longGentlenessWe go from being strong and unkind, to gentleGoodnessWe move from being immoral to moral, lacking goodness to flowing with goodnessFaith or faithfulnessWe go from being untrustworthy and disloyal to trustworthy and loyalMeeknessWe go from being strong, assertive, with a lack of control to having strength under controlTemperance We go from having no control over our lusts to being able to control them

So, you can look at a person and say “there is something uniquely different about that person.

They’re changing.

Everything about them is different.”

If people can look at you and see the same old same old, you need to take serious inventory.

(Q) When you look at yourself in one hand and the Scriptures in the other, are you more like Christ today than you were last year?