Fruit Producing Faith
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10/13/19
- Fruit Producing Faith Grows Down to Earth
- Fruit Producing Faith Grows Down to Earth
ME:
ME:
I remember hearing a sermon once where the pastor was talking about giving people the sandwich
111 countries are either restrictive of or downright hostile toward Christianity
More than 100 million Christians face persecution around the world
It is believed that somewhere between 50 to 70 thousand Christians are being held in detention camps in North Korea
While these statistics are alarming
they make the reality abundantly clear that Christians are subject to persecution
Why is this happening?
Well, this morning we are in
and in this chapter of John, Jesus teaches us why we face persecution
Jesus has been preparing His disciples for His crucifixion in the past couple of chapters
Up to this point, He has been focusing on how He is forming them into the Church
Chapter 15 continues with this focus
He teaches that the Church is...
A community that is distinguished by deep love for one another, committed to Jesus and His teaching, and recipients of His joy
Then Jesus turns His attention to how this community will fit in the world
And the way the world responds is with persecution and hatred
Jesus warns of suffering and animosity
The world will hate the church
The world will lash out
And Jesus teaches us what we are to do when this hatred comes
I remember hearing a sermon once where the pastor was talking about giving people the sandwich
He explained it as a way to give bad news or to give someone a critique
and he shared about this time he was coaching his sons team
I don’t remember what sport it was
But I remember him saying he had to tell the kids that weren’t going to be starting
so he said he was going to give them all the sandwich
He was going to surround the bad new, which is the meat of the sandwich
with two layers of something encouraging, the bread
so he is going through kids on the team
hey little Timmy you have shown a lot of improvement in practice, unfortunately you won’t be one of the starters, but you have a lot of potential and I believe you will get more playing time as you continue to improve
Then he gets to this one kid, who is really really struggling
and he had to find a way to tell this kid that he wasn’t going to be one of the starters
but he was struggling to come up with honest encouragements
Uhh Johnny, you uhhh, did a great job keeping your jersey really clean, and you aren’t going to be one of the starters, but…but…but....all the guys on the team really seem to like you so good job out there!
He admittedly struggled to give the sandwich to Johnny
Fortunately, Jesus is much better at giving the sandwich
And that’s what we see Jesus doing in
He starts by teaching that the vine loves us
Before He tells us that the world hates us
But He ends by encouraging that the Spirit helps us
So as we get ready to look at this morning, let’s go before our Lord in prayer.
The meat of the sandwich is that the world hates us
He was teaching His disciples of this reality 2 thousand years ago
And still today
It is estimated by Christian research groups that about 8,000 Christians are killed each year because of their faith
111 countries are either restrictive of or downright hostile toward Christianity
More than 100 million Christians face persecution around the world
It is believed that somewhere between 50 to 70 thousand Christians are being held in detention camps in North Korea
While these statistics are alarming
they make the reality abundantly clear that Christians are subject to persecution
Why is this happening?
This is what Jesus is answering in this chapter
and in this chapter of John, Jesus teaches us why we face persecution
Jesus has been preparing His disciples for His crucifixion in the past couple of chapters
Up to this point, He has been focusing on how He is forming them into the Church
Chapter 15 continues with this focus in the beginning
He teaches that the Church is...
A community that is distinguished by deep love for one another, committed to Jesus and His teaching, and recipients of His joy
Then Jesus turns His attention to to the meat of His sandwich
Revealing how this community fits in the world
And the way the world responds is with persecution and hatred
Jesus warns of suffering and animosity
The world will hate the church
The world will lash out
And Jesus teaches us what we are to do when this hatred comes
But before we look at that, let’s start with the first layer of the sandwich
That the Vine Loves Us in vs. 1-17
WE:
WE:
But before we look at that, let’s start with the first layer of the sandwich
That the Vine Loves Us in
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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 in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in 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, 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, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have 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 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.
This chapter is a continuation of what is referred to as the Passion narrative
And if you have a red letter Bible you might notice that this entire chapter is red
Because Jesus is speaking to His disciples for this entire chapter
Making Jesus and what He is saying the key focus of our passage
And He begins with His seventh and final I Am saying of John’s Gospel
I Am the True Vine, says Jesus
In , the prophet is communicating the word of the Lord to the people Israel
And when it gets to vs. 21 it says; ;
Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
“Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?”
We also see the nation Israel referred to as a vine in greater length in
So God’s chosen people are a vine
but the people are degenerate
and they became a wild vine
but now, here Jesus is, the True Vine He says
not wild, not degenerate, but True!
And the Father is the vinedresser
Then He starts with the actions that the Father takes as the vinedresser in vs. 2
First, it says, He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit
The second thing He does is prune the branches that do bear fruit, so that they may bear more fruit
Some of you may be familiar with the small book by Bruce Wilkinson titled, Secrets of the Vine
In the book, he recognizes four categories of Christians from this passage;
Some believe
In vs. 2, the branch that does not bear fruit, the branch that bears fruit, the branch with more fruit, and in vs. 5, the branch that bears much fruit
First, is the branch that does not bear fruit
This, he believes, is a believer, who just isn’t bearing fruit
and he argues that, this person will be disciplined to be brought back into fruitfulness
He presents a technical presentation of how to grow grapes believing that when Jesus says “takes away” it is better translated as “lifting up”
In the sense of God, the vinedresser, is lifting up the fruitless branch that is on the ground, so that it can begin to bear fruit
More traditionally, the branch that does not bear fruit has been understood as a reference to those who aren’t actually saved
When reading the context, vs. 6 seems to support the more traditional understanding of this passage
Where Jesus warns that anyone who does not abide in Him is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
Similarly, says;
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
and later in , it says;
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
R.C. Sproul comments on this;
“Those that do not remain show that they never had a saving relationship with Christ. Their destiny is described with the language of damnation (; ; ; ).”
Wilkinson’s comment on vs. 6 is this;
“These words sound catastrophic, but Jesus isn’t threatening a barren branch with hell. Unlike the olive tree, whose wood has found many uses since ancient times, the grape produces wood that is brittle and small. Ezekiel wrote, ‘Is wood taken from [the grapevine] to make any object?…Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel.’ ().”
Holding these two comments up side by side reveals a contradiction in interpretation
When looking at the process of how they each reached their respective interpretations, I have to confess, Wilkinson’s seems to use a lot more gymnastics in order to make his interpretation fit
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I am not accusing Wilkinson of being a heretic or anything like that
It is a difference of interpretation
But here is the interesting thing
But here is the interesting thing
We would just have to humbly acknowledge that we don
We are not the ones who determine whether or not a person is saved
Therefore, if we are not seeking to determine whether or not the fruitless branch is saved
Which
Our response or role is the same regardless if we agree with Sproul or if we agree with Wilkinson
and much of the application from Wilkinson’s Secrets of the Vine is still extremely profitable
Because God is the One who is doing the work in vs. 1-2
You see, it says the Vinedresser, the Father, is the one who takes the branch away
It is the vinedresser, the Father, who does the pruning
So essentially, Jesus is saying, the Father knows what to do with the branch that doesn’t bear fruit
God knows whether that branch refers to an unsaved person or not
And He will lift up or cast out accordingly
So again, regardless
Our role, our responsibility is given in vs. 4, Abide in Christ
Abide in the vine
Then regardless of which branch we are, the fruitless branch, the branch that bears fruit, the pruned branch
the result will be, As Jesus says in vs. 5, much fruit
Wilkinson makes the distinction, that the Father will prune us even if we bear fruit
He proposes a helpful question in this pruning process
Where does it hurt?
Think about it
Where is your pain or frustration coming from?
Because the pain will be coming from the place that God is trimming
Wilkinson suggests some key arenas where we can expect God to prune
David, already anointed as Israel’s next kind, already slayed the giant, he was a hero
The first, the people you love the most
Now this doesn’t mean God is going to destroy the ones you love to get your attention
But we need to trust the one’s we love the most into God’s care and not hold so tightly to them that we make an idol out of our loved ones
The second arena, your right to know why God does what He does
We foolishly believe we deserve to be in control of our lives
but this conflicts with living faithfully
So we have to give up the answer to why certain things are happening and instead seize control of our lives to God
The next arena, love of money and possessions
Most of us think we aren’t as bad as we are in this arena
The truth is, in America, we all have much more money and possessions that we struggle to let go of
some of these things may be sentimental
some may be out of necessity
but freedom from the desire of possessions and material comfort is a difficult and lengthy process for us all
The final arena Wilkinson presents is sources of significance
This is our need for a sense of worth and purpose.
Abraham had to be willing to give up His miracle of a son Isaac
What is it for you?
Is it your ministry?
Your reputation?
Your friends?
Your career?
Whatever it is, God will seek to prune it so that He can produce even more fruit in you.
As the Apostle Peter writes in ;
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
In all this, the repetitive command Christ gives-
In all this, the repetitive command Christ gives
our response is simply to Abide in Him
so simple, yet we struggle with this so greatly!
We want to know what we are to do
and the doing that Jesus calls us to is abiding
remaining, staying, residing, continuing, and waiting for
This is what abiding is
It is perhaps the least active action we can do!
That is what makes it so hard for us
Here is where Wilkinson’s application is so appropriate;
Wilkinson writes;
“Abiding is all about the most important friendship of your life. Abiding doesn’t measure how much you know about your faith or your Bible. In abiding, you seek, long for, thirst for, wait for, see, know, love, hear, and respond to…a person. More abiding means more of God in your life, more of Him in your activities, thoughts, and desires. In our Western-style rush to do and perform for God, we often falter at the task of simply enjoying His company.”
I love Wilkinson’s opening line,
Abiding is all about the most important friendship of your life
Think about your best friend
What are the things that make this person your best friend
Perhaps the fact that they accept you?
or maybe this friend always makes time for you?
Or maybe your friend always encourages you?
Or even this person challenges you, helps you to become a better person?
You see, this is what God offers as the vine!
He accepts us, while we are yet sinners, Christ dies for us
Christ is always available for us to come to
He is both trustworthy and patient
He keeps no record of your wrongs, He paid for them
He loves you
He calls you friend, as He tells the disciples in this chapter
And here is saying, Abide in Me
He says in vs. 9, I love you as the Father has loved Me, abide in My love!
Don’t be fooled, abiding isn’t based on how you feel
You don’t have to have this emotional high every time you think you are abiding in God
His love, our relationship with Him, is constant
We don’t live off the emotions from one spiritual experience until we get to the next spiritual experience
Abiding is an act of faith
it demonstrates that you value God’s presence in your life more than anything else
and if you fall for the lie that it has to be some emotional experience, you will walk away feeling disappointed
sure, there will be times when you have an emotional high
just like in your relationships with those you love
You have a romantic date with your spouse
an exhilarating adventure with a close friend
a vulnerable heart to heart with a family member
you have stronger feelings during those moments
but those moments aren’t the only substance of your relationship
likewise with God, abide in Him in a way that isn’t dependent upon those emotional or spiritual highs
This isn’t the only place God’s Word teaches this
Earlier in John’s Gospel, chapter 6, vs. 56
Jesus says, Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him
Also in , Jesus told the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”
But it isn’t even limited to John’s gospel
in the love passage of , vs. 13 uses the same word when it says that faith, hope, and love remain
The ESV translates it as So now faith, hope, and love abide
But the Apostle John also has this as a primary focus in His epistles
7 times in , the Apostle teaches the need to abide in Christ, abide in the light, abide in the Word, and having these abide in you.
Likewise, 6 times in chapter 3 communicates the same message in more of a warning
Then in , the Apostle writes;
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
and two more times in 2 John for good measure
This is the focus of vs. 4-10 in
10 times, Jesus says abide
Abide in Me, He says in vs. 4
A branch can’t bear fruit unless it abides in the vine
likewise
we can’t bear spiritual fruit unless we abide in Christ
in vs. 6, if anyone does not abide in Christ, he is thrown away
If we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we wish and it will be done
In vs. 9, Abide in Christ’s love
if we keep His commandments, we will abide in His love
Just as He abided in the Father’s love
Not only in this
And what is the result of our abiding?
spiritual fruit
an increased faith
further Christ-likeness
Evidence that we are His disciples
and by this, God is glorified!
So why does Jesus tell us to abide in Him?
vs. 11 He answers, so that His joy may be in us
and our joy may be full!
So Jesus is the vine
and we are to abide in Him
He makes that clear in vs. 1-11
then in vs. 12, He reiterates His commandment from earlier
in chapter 13, vs. 34-35
That we are to love one another, as He has loved us
His love is the standard
His love is the greatest love
and as the vine, He is showing that He loves us
That we are his friends, and He lays down His life for us
and He wants us to have this same love for one another
All of this in vs. 1-17 were the first layer of the sandwich
GOD:
GOD:
This was the encouragement before getting to a hard truth in vs. 18-25
He made sure we know that the vine loves us
before teaching that the world hates us
Let’s look at how He shows the world hates us in ;
“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 seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
Hatred and persecution are the themes of this passage
in the first section we looked at, we saw abide referenced ten times
here in this section, we see hatred and persecution ten times
Jesus has just been going on about abiding in His love
To love as He loved
Then immediately after, He says the world will hate you
So, are we suppose to love a world that will hate us?
Well Jesus said to love as He loved
and He said, For God so loved the World that He sent His only begotten Son
also, God demonstrates His love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
So, Jesus is expecting us to love the world, as He loved the world, in the face of hatred the world will have for us
Why does the world hate us?
Well, first and foremost, Jesus says in vs. 18, because the world hates Jesus
and this may not seem true, but the evidence of persecution we looked at earlier supports that
and in our culture as well
there are many Americans who claim to love Jesus, but it is a plastic Jesus that they have crafted in their minds to be the Jesus they want
The Jesus of the Bible is hated by the world
but that is not the only reason
In vs. 19, We are not of this world
Jesus chose us out of this world
We are aliens,
or as Peter uses in , we are sojourners and exiles
And I have heard from both non-Christians and Christians some pretty strong feelings against aliens who don’t belong here
Those strong feelings are the feelings the world has against us
But still, not even just that
the World hates Jesus, Jesus is our master
vs. 20 tells us to expect persecution because we are servants to the one who was persecuted and murdered
And vs. 21 shows that the world doesn’t know God
and because the world doesn’t know God, the world persecuted Christ
so again, the world will hate us because of Christ’s name and because they don’t know God
Then Jesus drops the biggest reason the world hates us
because Jesus exposes the guilt of the world
When we are wrong, we don’t want someone telling us we are wrong
or showing us we are wrong
and we think the worst kind of people are those goodie too shoes
because that just makes our guilt look that much worse
The world is in darkness and hates Christ for shining light into the darkness
because it reveals their guilt
and their guilt looks that much worse next to Christ’s holiness
When you are in the dark for a long time, it hurts your eyes when light first cuts through
And in this world, we reflect Jesus’s light so the world likewise hates us because we are reflecting the one who is exposing the world’s guilt
Jesus even references the OT in vs. 25 to support the reality of the world’s hatred
He doesn’t exactly quote a specific passage
But it aligns with either
Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
or ;
More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
We don’t like to be hated
And it is challenging, concerning, and discouraging to know the world will hate us
This is why Jesus gives us the sandwich
YOU:
YOU:
He spends much time teaching that the vine loves us
highlighting our need to abide in Him
before getting to the meat of the sandwich
that the world hates us
Again, remember, He is preparing His disciples because His hour is at hand
but, the sandwich is not complete until we get the second slice of bread
after giving us the hard truth that the world hates us
Jesus concludes with the truth that the Spirit helps us
let’s look at Jesus teaching about the Spirit helping us in ;
“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 have 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 when 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.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
Jesus closes with great encouragement
The Helper will come
Again, think of this series together
Jesus just said to love as He loved
Oh and by the way, the world hates you because of me
but the way I am going to love the world is by laying down my life
so love the world that hates you just like that
If Jesus were to end there, it would send each of us into a tailspin because that task is an overwhelming mountain of a task
So immediately after teaching the world hates you
Jesus says, But! When the Helper comes
Where is the Helper coming from?
The Father.
Who is the Helper?
The Spirit of Truth
He will bear witness about Christ
it’s almost like you can feel the weight of this responsibility being unloaded from your shoulders as the Spirit takes on this load
Then suddenly, Jesus adds one more thing that starts to creep panic back into our minds
you will bear witness about Christ
And perhaps, recognizing the look of panic on the disciples’ faces,
Jesus starts chapter 16 by saying that He is telling us these things to keep us from falling away
falling away, that is the opposite of abiding
Jesus is coming full circle here
He reiterates that the world hates us
you will be an outcast
some may even try to kill you
WE:
WE:
But Jesus is telling us these things so that we can abide in Him
So we must not stop being His witnesses
we must not fall away
When hatred comes, we have a Helper so that we can abide in Christ
will you pray with me.