I AM the True Vine (John 15:1-17)

Daniel L. Arter

The Gospel according to John • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

John 15:1–17

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Announcements

Bible Study & Prayer at 7pm on Wednesday. Join us as we continue our series in the book of Psalms.

On January 21st at 7pm, we’ll be screening American Gospel: Christ Alone in the auditorium. This is completely free for anyone who cares to join us, we’ll also have free drinks and popcorn available as well.

On January 29th at 10:30am, we’ll have a group doing door-to-door outreach in Chester Hill. We could use some help, it isn’t hard—we’re essentially going door-to-door, explaining who we are, offering to pray with them, and then giving them a flyer for the church. If you want to help, please reach out to Natalie as soon as possible for the details.

As you all know, there was a severe weather alert for our area this morning concerning ice. I’ve mentioned this before, but since this is our first instance of severe weather on a Sunday, I wanted to say it again:

We don’t cancel services for weather alone—so, even if there’s a blizzard, we’ll still have church. That has always been our policy and the reasoning for that is three-fold: (1) there is vital importance in the church gathering whenever possible and some of our people live more locally and can still make it even if the weather is bad; (2) we live-stream every service and we keep the recording indefinitely, so anyone can watch from home; and (3) I think you guys are smart enough to determine if it’s safe or unsafe for you to drive. So, on days like today, the decision is completely yours—if you feel safe driving, then please feel free to join us in person; if you don’t feel safe driving, then feel free to join us online. There is no judgment either way—just be safe.

Now, you’ll notice that I said that we don’t cancel services for weather alone—all that means is this, on occasion when there’s something else significant happening, we might cancel services, but that’s a rarity—it would be situations like the heat not working or the power being down; and there’s simply no way for us to work around it, but in those rare situations, we will be quick to inform you.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the LORD through your giving. Some of you have been unable to be with us for a few weeks due to illness and now the weather, so let me encourage you to take advantage of our digital giving platform. In order to help you with your giving, we have three ways for you to give (1) you can give in-person at the offering box in the front of the room. If you write a check, please write it to Grace & Peace, if you give cash and you’d like a receipt, please place it in an envelope with your name on it. Digital giving can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online a gapb.church and selecting giving in the menu bar. Everything you give goes to the building up of our church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Call to Worship (Psalm 39)

Our Call to Worship this morning is Psalm 39, it is a psalm of David that acknowledge the brevity of life. David essentially says, “life is short” thus, I need to hope in God. It’s notable that at the beginning of Psalm 39, David speaks of discipline from God concerning his own sinful behavior; and he actually makes it clear that he was hiding his sins from God, but because he realizes that life is short, he needs to repent and praise God. Please stand and read Psalm 39 with me, I’ll read the odd numbered verses, please join me in reading the even numbered verses.

Psalm 39 ESV

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 1 I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” 2 I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. 3 My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah 6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! 7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! 9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 10 Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand. 11 When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah 12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. 13 Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!”

Congregational Singing

10,000 Reasons

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Scripture Reading (Deuteronomy 6:1-9)

I’ve asked Natalie to read our Scripture reading this morning, which is found in Deuteronomy 6:1-9. It is a shorter passage, but it should be somewhat familiar because it includes the Hebrew shema and its actually utilized by Jesus when the Pharisees ask him what the greatest Law is. Deuteronomy 6 gives us the greatest law and then it teaches us how seriously we ought to take this law. Natalie please read Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

Deuteronomy 6:1–9 ESV

1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Sermon

Introduction

This morning, we’re continuing in our series on the Gospel according to John. We’re in John 15, which I’m thinking is probably fairly well-known for most people in the room and watching online. It’s a passage of Scripture that most Christians have heard and listened to. It’s familiar because it’s something that many Christians have heard preached and taught in various contexts, but let me encourage you not to think that you already know exactly what this passage says and thus, don’t think that you should just tune this all out.

In fact, I’m fairly confident that even though you’ve probably heard this passage several times throughout your life, you probably don’t have a comprehensive idea of what the full passage says. Rather, you know what parts of the passage says, you know that Jesus says he’s the true vine, you know that Jesus calls you his branches. And then you know that Jesus has a command to love one another, but you’ve never quite connected the dots and you’ve never quite seen how Jesus’ command to love one another and the concept of Jesus being the true vine connect. Or in other words, you’ve gotten bits and pieces of this text, but you’ve never quite seen how everything that Jesus says in vss. 1-17 weave together to form one unified idea.

And because you’ve never really seen the interconnectivity of vss. 1-17, you haven’t really seen how John 14 connects to John 13 and really to the subsequent chapters all the way through chapter 17. Hopefully, we can fix some of that this morning.

Let’s read together John 15:1-17.

John 15:1–17 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 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. 16 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. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

As we study John 15:1-17 together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) vs. 1-11, The Vine and the Branches, involves Jesus’ statement that he is the true vine and that his Father is the vinedresser. We’ll explore what exactly that means and we’ll discuss the implications of the metaphoric illustration that Jesus uses. (2) Vs. 12-17, is Jesus’ Command, which will be familiar because its the same command that he’s iterated and reiterated multiple times, that his disciples are to love one another like he has loved them. Both sections are potent in and of themselves, but together, they drive at a singular idea—that if you truly love God, you’re going to show fruit and the primary fruit that he has in mind in John 15 is love for one another. Or put differently, if you love one another, you exhibit fruit that shows that you love God, but for those that don’t, it reveals a lack of genuine belief. This message should cause us to reflect on our own hearts, to question whether we genuinely love one another and if we realize that we don’t, is should cause us to reflect on our spiritual state.

Prayer for Illumination

The Vine and the Branches (1-11)

Jesus continues this conversation with the disciples by making the statement that “[he is] the true vine, and [his] Father is the vinedresser.”

This is clearly metaphoric in nature, Jesus is not literally saying that he is a vine and that his Father’s career is that of a farmer. It’s figurative language meant to cause the disciples to reflect on the meaning at hand and to conjure up an image of what he means:

In this scenario, Jesus is making the statement that he is a vine and the Father is the vinedresser, but he doesn’t end with that because it’s clear that he’s not finished making his metaphor—in vs. 5, he makes it abundantly clear that his disciples “are the branches.”

This gives us an image of being a part of Jesus in a unique sense, but let me make it abundantly clear that this is a metaphor, it doesn’t literally mean that we’re part of Jesus—we are not God, we are not Jesus, we are not little gods, to say so is heresy. What John 15 is teaching is that we’re part of a unique relationship with Jesus in which much like a vine, he provides life to us and he nourishes us, but we’ll get back to that unique relationship in a few minutes.

Jesus says that he is the true vine, and his father is the vinedresser and in vss. 2-4, he starts describing what exactly he means. “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.”

In this metaphor, Jesus clearly states that there are specific roles at play here, that Jesus himself provides life to those that are branches and that through the life that’s given by Jesus, he enables the branches to make fruit or bear fruit.

Only those branches that are in him bear fruit, but all other branches don’t bear fruit; and what Jesus says is the vinedresser, his Father, takes away those that don’t bear fruit and in fact, vs. 6 tells us that all who don’t bear fruit will be gathered together, thrown into the fire, and burned.

But those who are in him, he doesn’t take away, he prunes. Now, of course, we can tell he’s keeping with the farming or gardening metaphor here, but it’s clear that there’s something much greater going on here because from vs. 5, again, we see that the branches are indeed, people.

With that in mind, it’s clear that what Jesus is teaching the disciples is that each person is either in him or not—those who are in him will bear fruit and will be pruned by the Father, those who don’t bear fruit, will be gathered together and thrown into the fire and burned.

In the case of the remaining disciples (remember that Judas Iscariot had already left), Jesus says that they’re already clean because of the word that he spoke to them; or in other words, they’re already fruit-bearing branches because they’re already in him. They are as vs. 4 says “[abiding] in [him]” and they bear fruit because they abide in him.

Because they already abide in him and they bear fruit, there’s no risk or concern for them of being gathered up and thrown in the fire.

But for those who don’t abide in him, who don’t bear fruit, there is a great risk of being gathered up and burnt, in fact, it’s not even just a risk, it’s a certainty, because Jesus himself says unless you abide in him, you can’t bear fruit, because apart from him, you can do nothing.

Now, before you say, “woah, this sounds harsh,” remember that Jesus has already shown all mankind a significant amount of grace and mercy.

Consider Romans 1:18-23 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

And consider Psalm 14:1-3 “1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Romans 1 and Psalm 14 make it abundantly clear that through God’s creation he has already revealed himself to all people. Romans 1 emphasizes that the moral standards of God are manifest to mankind because he himself is clearly perceived, but people are refusing to believe. Rather than believing in God they make idols of creation (including man) and they worship the creation rather than the Creator. Psalm 14 makes it clear that God is looking down from heaven to see if anyone genuinely seeks after God, but they’ve all become corrupt, there is no righteous, not even one.

Or put differently, God has revealed himself through his creation, which ought to prompt man to seek more information; and through the Word of God he reveals his Gospel, but man is refusing to believe; and since God is the Creator, who is only ever good, who is holy—it is right for him to gather up those who refuse to genuinely believe and bear fruit and cast them into the fire.

Jesus is making it clear in his illustration, that only those who are in him bear fruit and only those who bear fruit aren’t cast into the fire. That alone ought to be sobering and thought-provoking, but there’s something else sort of wedged into these statements that you might miss if you’re reading through it too quickly. It’s found in the second half of vs. 2, “every branch that does bear fruit [the Father] prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Now, when it comes to plants, we know what it means for a plant to be pruned. A gardener or farmer will go through and he’ll pull off the dead or dying parts of the plant so that the plant can direct its resources to encouraging further growth.

The question is, what does this look like for a person? What does the pruning process look like for a human being who genuinely believes in God? Is it pleasant? Is it painless? Is it quick and easy?

Consider James 1:2-4 “2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Vs. 12, “12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

James speaks of trials and the testing of your faith being utilized to produce steadfastness, which when it has its full effect, makes you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. We could say it like this, suffering matures you.

In light of John 15, suffering is a means through which God prunes you.

Now, you might ask, are trials and suffering the only ways that God prunes you? No, but it is something in your life that is consistent and if you remain faithful, God will use it to perfect you.

God utilizes all things in your life to prune you, we see that in Romans 8:28-29 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Many people have Romans 8:28 memorized and it provides a balm in times of great hardship for them. They think that regardless of what’s happening, God will use it for their good, but the problem is they often think of good in their own terms. Or in other words, they think of good as what they think is good. So, there’s great discouragement when they come to realize that what God thinks of as good isn’t always what they think of as good.

According to Romans 8:29, what does God consider to be good? “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” God considers you being more like Jesus good. And what Romans 8:28-29 says is that God is working all things to make you more like Jesus. He’s pruning you.

In light of John 15, what this shows us is that God is intentionally pruning you by using your suffering and hardships to bear more fruit or make you more like Jesus. God is utilizing everything in your life to prune you to make you more like Jesus.

And what Vss. 8-11 shows us is that through this process of intentional pruning “[the] Father is glorified.” Vs. 8, “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 pruning process, which occurs to everyone who genuinely believes in Jesus and is in Jesus causes the disciples to bear more fruit and it makes it apparent that they are genuinely his.

Which makes sense, because Jesus himself speaks of the necessity of good fruit:

In Matthew 7, the warning is to watch out for false teachers and he states that they’ll know who the good and false teachers are based on their fruit.

In Mark 7, he tells the people that what comes out of a person is what defiles him and that evil fruit proves an evil heart and good fruit proves a regenerated heart.

Good fruit reveals the regenerated nature of a person’s heart; evil fruit reveals that they don’t actually believe.

Thus, the pruning process, which causes genuine believers to produce more fruit brings more glory to God.

Vs. 9-11 then starts a transition to the second half of our text. Jesus tells them to abide in his love, and that by keeping his commandments, they’ll abide in his love.

Which brings us back to our application from John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And in order to help you keep his commandments, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit.

This connection with John 14 in chapter 15 shows us something in particular. While there are several fruits that we are to be developing and growing according to Galatians 5 and there are several fruits that the branch rooted in Jesus is to exhibit, the fruit that Jesus is focusing on in John 15:9-17, is love that results in obedience

“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.”

As John 14 teaches, genuine love for Jesus results in keeping his commandments, thus, conversely, if you don’t keep Jesus’ commandments, you don’t genuinely love him.

If you genuinely love Jesus, you’ll obey his commandments and through this, you’ll receive joy from Jesus that will be full.

Now, like I said, Jesus has already started transitioning into the last six verses, we see that with him reintroducing this idea of obeying his commandments. He then reinforces a command that he introduced all the way back in John 13:34-35 again in vss. 12-17. Let’s re-read John 15:12-17.

Jesus’ Command (12-17)

John 15:12–17 ESV

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 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. 16 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. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Jesus reintroduces this command in vs. 12 and reinforces it with vss. 13-14, “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.”

I’m sure you’re familiar with vss. 12-14, but for teaching’s sake, let’s work through these verses.

Vs. 12, reminds us again of this command that they love one another like he loves them—this is a repeat of the “new” command that Jesus gave in John 13, but remember the concept of loving one another isn’t new; it’s the command to love one another like Jesus loves them that is a new iteration to the general concept of loving others.

Jesus reminds them again to love one another like he loves them and then he expounds on this love that they’re to have for one another. How do we know that we love one another like Jesus loves us?

Great, genuine love is epitomized by the willingness to give up a life for someone else. We typically refer to this as the ultimate sacrifice; and I’m sure you realize that there’s a significant amount of foreshadowing here. Jesus is telling them that there’s no greater love than to give up your life for someone else; and what is he about to do? He’s about to lay his life down for them and really for us.

Jesus says that there is no greater love than those who give up their lives for others knowing that he’s about to give up his life for those that he calls his friends.

He tells them that if they do what he commands, they are his friends; or put differently, if they obey him, they’re his friends.

Which introduces a new idea that he expounds on in vss. 15-17, that they are no longer just servants, but they’re friends as well. Vs. 15, “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.”

On occasion, Scripture speaks of people being friends of God—Abraham was called a friend of God; Moses was called a friend of God and just like the disciples in John 15, the reason for their being called friends of God is that they had seen or heard part of God’s revelation.

It’s important to note that they didn’t befriend God first, but God befriended them—it’s the same in our situation as well; we didn’t befriend God first, God befriended us. Likewise, when we speak of reconciliation, we are reconciled to God; God isn’t reconciled to us.

We see that particularly emphasized in vs. 16, “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.”

John later reemphasizes this idea in 1 John 4:19, “19 We love because he first loved us.”

If God didn’t love us, we wouldn’t love him whatsoever. Psalm 14 teaches us that prior to God’s working within us, no one does good; no one seeks for him, we all do evil.

It takes the working of the Holy Spirit convicting of sin and the drawing of us to repentance for those who do love to be able to get to the point of loving him.

And those that are genuinely drawn to him and genuinely love him and are genuinely his friends bear fruit—including obedience and love for one another.

Or put differently, what Jesus is teaching the disciples as he’s utilizing this illustration of a vine and a vinedresser is this, that those who are truly rooted in him or grounded in him show that they are through their obedience to his commands—in particular, his command to love one another.

Those who genuinely believe exhibit fruit and in this case, the fruit at hand that Jesus is emphasizing is obedience to his commandments, particularly the command to love one another.

Which is why this text is littered with the idea of loving one another, it’s why he starts with the command in vss. 9-10, it’s why he continues with the command in vss. 11-14, and it’s why he ends in vs. 17 by saying “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

And this emphasis shows us that genuine friendship with Jesus, with God, involves the obligation of love with one another.

Now before we continue with application, there are two verses that I want us to take a closer look at. Vss. 7 and 16 both make a statement that if taken incorrectly leads to all matter of false teaching.

Both vss. 7 and 16 mention something that if taken out of context, gives a fantastical and wonderful idea of a God who wants to give you all your hearts desire; and trust me, there are plenty of people who do misuse and abuse these verses for that exact reason. Neither one of these verses promises anything even remotely close to that concept, so let’s look at them in their context:

John 15:7 “7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

John 15:16 “16 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.”

What Jesus is stating when he makes those comments is that if you’re residing in him and you’re growing in your love for him and others (which again, is evidenced by your obedience of his commands), whatever you’ll ask God to do will be in line with God’s will. And anything in line with God’s will be accomplished.

This isn’t some promise of great prosperity or great blessing that you get just because you asked and God wants to give you whatever you want.

This is a promise that anything in line and according to God’s will will actually occur, which actually gives quite a bit of hope.

What this means is that God himself, isn’t fickle, he doesn’t give people whatever their fallible, human hearts desire. He works in such a way that his own desire and his own will is fulfilled and since God is infallible, he’s perfect, and he’s good, we can trust that whatever he desires and wills to happen is also infallible, perfect, and good.

What Jesus is teaching in vss. 7 and 16 is that if your heart is aligned with God’s heart, whatever you ask in line with God’s will will actually happen.

Now, in the remaining few minutes, I’d like to spend some time focused on specific application, but I think if you’ve been paying attention this morning, you’ve been picking up on various applications throughout the text. So, let me just help you with some major application points that Jesus stresses in these verses. Like normal, we’ll continue to use the two sections to help us organize the application:

Application

The Vine and the Branches (1-11)—In our first section, we see Jesus utilizing an illustration of him being a vine, his people being branches, and the Father being the vinedresser. The illustration itself, was probably familiar to anyone who has attended a church for any amount of time, but the concepts taught by the illustration might not be as familiar and it’s the concepts that are taught by the illustration that provide our application:

Since Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, there’s a significance here and the significance is this, it shows us that life is given through Jesus Christ alone. Just like in a plant, the plant, the branches and the leaves rely on the trunk or the vine or the stem to provide sustenance.

Spiritual life is rooted in Jesus Christ alone. Without him, there is no life, so it’s best that we start with that idea. Jesus is where we find life and until we’re in Jesus and we abide in him, we are spiritually dead.

Until we are grafted into the plant (as Romans 11 teaches), we are dead, there is no hope—genuine life begins with repentance and belief, that’s what grafts you into this spiritual plant.

So repent and believe.

It’s clear in John 15, that Jesus’ focus is on the branch producing fruit, which means that for those of us that are branches grafted into Jesus Christ, his emphasis in John 15 is on us producing fruit.

It’s very clear that in this particular passage, the fruit that he has in mind is love that results in obedience; or in other words, if you genuinely love Jesus, you’ll obey his commands. And if you genuinely love Jesus, one of those commands is to love one another.

Thus, if you love Jesus, according to John 15, you will love one another just like he loves you. 1 John takes it a step further and makes it clear that if you don’t love those around you, you reside in darkness and you don’t actually have salvation.

The question then is, how do you apply all of this?

If Jesus is the means through which we are to get sustenance, then the application is to seek sustenance through Jesus Christ alone.

According to Hebrews 1 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that’s done through the Word of God alone. Seek spiritual sustenance through the Word of God.

This requires that you read it, that you delight in it, that you take it seriously, and that you apply it to your lives today.

This also means that while other sources or other means through which to help you gain spiritual sustenance are always to be taken as secondary to Scripture—or in other words, devotionals can be useful, but they can’t take the place of the Bible itself. Listening to sermons is a good thing, but it can’t take the place of the Bible itself. Having spiritual conversations with people can be good, but those conversations can’t take the place of Scripture itself.

To gain spiritual sustenance, you have to get it from Jesus himself, which is done through His Word, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

If you want to bear fruit by abiding in Jesus Christ, that really starts with learning God’s Word and seeking to understand it and apply it—it’s rather hard to obey Jesus if you don’t actually know what Jesus said.

In addition, to be a branch that bears fruit, you really need to take Galatians 5:16-25 into consideration, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other . . . The works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh and its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

How do you bear fruit as a branch that’s connected to Jesus Christ?

You first need to repent of sin and believe in him.

Then you seek sustenance from Jesus Christ alone through the reading, studying, and applying of God’s Word.

And as you learn more, you live your life in such a way that you reject the works of the flesh and seek to walk in the fruits of the Spirit.

As you continuously do this throughout your life, the Holy Spirit works within you to sanctify you and as you’re progressively sanctified by Jesus Christ, you bear more fruit—including the fruit of genuine love for those around you and the willingness to obey Jesus’ commands.

Repent from sins and believe; read, study, and apply God’s Word to your life; and then walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

Jesus’ Command (12-17)—the latter half of the passage, emphasizes this commandment to love one another as Jesus has loved you. For the disciples, he emphasizes this by making the statement that there is no greater love than someone who lays down his life for his friends, which is clear foreshadowing of what’s to happen to Jesus. In addition, he makes this statement that they are his friends if they follow his commands, which is again, a sign that they genuinely love him. The application for this last section is fairly simple:

Jesus teaches us through the disciples, that we are to love one another.

So, ask yourself, do you act in a loving way to all those around you? Before you answer, consider 1 Corinthians 13, which we typically refer to as the love chapter. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Now consider the question, have you been loving those around you? Have you been patient and kind? Or have you been envious, boastful, arrogant, and rude? Are you a peacemaker? Or do you insist on your own way? Are you irritable and resentful towards those around you? Or are you bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring in all things?

I think we can all admit that we struggle with loving one another; and the reason for that is actually simple, when Jesus tells us that we are to love one another as we love ourselves, he makes the assumption that we all love ourselves already. Thus, typically, what’s happening when we don’t act in a loving way towards others, it’s because we’re responding by loving ourselves over them.

Why are you being impatient and unkind? Because you love yourself more than the one you’re speaking to.

Why are you being envious, boastful, arrogant, and rude? Because you don’t love them as much as you love yourself.

Why are you being irritable and resentful? Because your love for self outweighs your love for others.

And the only proper response to this when you realize it is to repent and keep walking in the Spirit; and pray that the Spirit helps you to love others more and more.

Genuine love for Jesus shows up as obedience of his commands; genuine love for others shows up in many different ways.

It might mean taking care of physical needs for someone, it might mean helping them financially or providing them with a jacket to stay warm.

It does include gently holding them accountable for sins and teaching them God’s truth; it also means encouraging them to consider seeking Jesus.

Genuine love for others might show up as helping someone build a deck in their backyard or it might mean just sitting with them over coffee and listening to them.

Regardless of the exact scenario, genuine love for others involves caring for them over yourself and according to John 15, it’s a result of your genuine love for Jesus.

Or in other words, and this is the application—love others because you love Jesus.

That is the primary fruit that Jesus is focusing on in John 15:1-17 and it’s clear that loving others is a command from Jesus himself.

The unique thing that John 15 points out concerning obedience to Jesus’ commands and bearing fruit, is this, when you love Jesus, which is shown by your obedience, according to vs. 11, there is joy.

True joy comes from loving Jesus, which results in obedience, fruit, and love for others.

Put simply, what John 15:1-17 teaches us is this: (1) you are to bear fruit—and in order to bear fruit, you repent, believe, seek truth in Scripture, and walk in the Spirit; and (2) love one another as a result of your love for Jesus. Only then will you have joy.

Our world usually gets the horse in front of the cart and the typical idea is that you ought to seek happiness above all else, but the reality is that happiness and joy are a result of loving Jesus and bearing fruit—so, love Jesus and bear fruit.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Behold Our God

The Lord’s Supper

As we move into the Lord’s Supper this morning, let me just start with a little bit of housekeeping.

At Grace & Peace Bible Church, we practice an open communion, which simply means that it doesn’t matter if you’re a member of our local church, all that matters is that you genuinely believe. If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, please feel free to partake with us.

As the communion plate is passed, please note that each cup has two cups stacked with the bottom cup holding the bread and the top cup holding the juice. Please take both cups so that you can take part of each part of communion.

As you grab your elements, please hold them until everyone receives them, after which, we’ll pray together and take the elements together.

Let me remind you of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians. He warns the Corinthians to not take part in communion in a way that is unworthy because doing so makes you guilty of the death of Jesus and it can make you physically ill. Instead, he warns them to check their hearts and repent from sin prior to taking communion; and I’m calling you to do the same this morning. If you are holding onto unrepentant sin, repent before taking communion. If you’re refusing to repent or you don’t believe, please let the plate pass in front of you. No one is watching to see what you’re doing, it’s between you and God alone.

At this time, we’re going to take about a minute for you to quietly reflect and prayer; after which, I’ll pray for the elements and they’ll be passed around.

Prayer for the Lord’s Supper.

“On the night when [our Lord, Jesus] was betrayed, [he] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Congregational Singing

As the Deer

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