1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,840 We open our Bibles together to the book of Romans in the seventh chapter where we find 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:12,800 our theme in the fourth verse. 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,560 Romans chapter seven and verse four. 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:26,800 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:32,080 that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,920 bear fruit for God. 7 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,320 We've been talking about this matter of our fruit bearing. 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,760 We have turned to John chapter 15 as a key text for that, and I invite you to turn there 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:50,200 now as we focus our attention on this text, which is perhaps the most complete in the 10 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,760 New Testament regarding the matter of bearing fruit. 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,880 The fruit is the extension of the life of the vine, and so it is with the fruit that 12 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,440 we bear for God. 13 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,440 We have been freed from the law with its constraint and its condemnation. 14 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:12,120 We have been liberated so that we now might bear fruit for God. 15 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:19,220 This chapter spoken by Jesus the evening before he was crucified is a chapter that explains 16 00:01:19,220 --> 00:01:22,120 to us something about fruit bearing. 17 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,440 The fruit is the extension of the life of the vine. 18 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:31,680 The fruit that you and I bear is the extension of his life in the world. 19 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:39,680 The fruit that we bear is evidence of supernatural life, something beyond the mere natural. 20 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:44,820 The fruit in our lives that we talked about last week is evidence that there is something 21 00:01:44,820 --> 00:01:47,600 supernatural about us. 22 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,400 We talked about the fruit that is a prayer that is answered. 23 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,640 Jesus speaks in this chapter of that being one kind of fruit, prayer that is answered. 24 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,040 Secondly, joy that is full. 25 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,940 His joy given to us is the joy really of obedience. 26 00:02:03,940 --> 00:02:11,360 We talked about the fruit that is love, which is sacrificial, that lays down itself for 27 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:12,840 the good of another. 28 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,240 We talked about the fruit of understanding that is intimate. 29 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,560 Jesus said, I give you insight and understanding like that given to friends. 30 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:27,120 No longer are you mere servants, but there is a relationship between us that is close. 31 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:28,520 It draws us together. 32 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:33,720 We're intimate and I share with you insights and wisdom and understanding. 33 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,520 We talked about the fruit of persecution that is unjustified. 34 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,680 The world will hate you, said Jesus, because it hated me. 35 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:47,600 If it hated me, it's only natural that it will hate you and direct toward you acts of 36 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,800 persecution and affliction that you don't deserve. 37 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,160 But he said, rejoice in them. 38 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:59,200 Then there is the fruit of witness that is spirit empowered, the last part of chapter 39 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:00,200 15. 40 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:07,360 Now, in the midst of this chapter on fruit bearing, Jesus mentions to us several stages 41 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:08,840 of fruit bearing. 42 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,840 We'll begin reading in verse 1. 43 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,520 I am the true vine. 44 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,280 Time out for just a moment. 45 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:23,360 Jesus is saying, I am the vine that is true, that is genuine. 46 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:30,360 In contrast to the vine of the Old Testament, which was the nation of Israel, that nation 47 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,200 did not produce fruit pleasing to God. 48 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,760 It was rotten fruit. 49 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,880 So God set aside that vine. 50 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:43,360 Now Jesus is saying that he himself is the true vine. 51 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,080 He says, my father is the vinedresser. 52 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:54,600 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. 53 00:03:54,600 --> 00:04:00,680 Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. 54 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,760 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 55 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:10,880 You abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides 56 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,500 in the vine. 57 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:16,200 So neither can you unless you abide in me. 58 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,320 I am the vine, you are the branches. 59 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:26,840 He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 60 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:32,400 Then verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should 61 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:39,400 go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. 62 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,760 Notice in verse 2 that Jesus talks about three stages of fruit bearing. 63 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,960 He talks about that potential of no fruit. 64 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:54,040 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, no fruit, stage number one. 65 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,420 Number two, fruit. 66 00:04:58,420 --> 00:05:02,000 Every branch that bears fruit. 67 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,280 Number three, more fruit. 68 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:06,120 Do you notice the progression? 69 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,760 No fruit, fruit, more fruit. 70 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,280 And then in verse 5, much fruit. 71 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:20,800 God's desire is to work in us to bring us from the first stage to the last stage. 72 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,720 That point where we may be fruitless to the point where we bear much fruit, for that is 73 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,840 the reason that he chose us. 74 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:32,880 That we might go and bear fruit and that that fruit should remain. 75 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:39,720 It is interesting to notice that the father who is the husbandman takes some action so 76 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:41,700 that that might happen. 77 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:45,980 God is committed to see us bear much fruit. 78 00:05:45,980 --> 00:05:50,760 We have a responsibility ourselves to be sure. 79 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,120 He tells us that responsibility is to abide. 80 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,760 We'll talk about that in a moment. 81 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:02,960 That it is the purpose, it is the intent, it is the work of God that you and I might 82 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:04,360 bear much fruit. 83 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,080 God is seeking to move us in that direction. 84 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,460 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit. 85 00:06:13,460 --> 00:06:17,200 Is it possible for a Christian to have no fruit? 86 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,680 Well, the answer to that is yes, it is possible. 87 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,940 It is possible for a genuine Christian not to bear fruit. 88 00:06:24,940 --> 00:06:32,040 Keep in mind that when Jesus uses this term, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, 89 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,580 he is not using the term in me in the same sense that Paul used that term technically 90 00:06:36,580 --> 00:06:39,160 in Christ. 91 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:46,840 He is talking here about one who is related to him, but who because of lack of whatever 92 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:49,620 is not bearing fruit in his life. 93 00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:54,520 You say, can that progress over a long period of time? 94 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:00,640 And not without God taking some action as it explains it here. 95 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:08,120 But it is possible for you and for me to have periods of our life where there is no fruit. 96 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:09,840 What does God do when there is no fruit? 97 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:15,080 Well, it says that he takes away that branch. 98 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:20,640 There are two possible understandings of that verb, he takes away. 99 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,600 One is that he literally does remove it. 100 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,520 He is not suggesting here that we are removed out of Christ as though we were in Christ 101 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,120 in the sense that Paul uses that term. 102 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,340 Somehow then we are taken out of Christ so that we are no longer his, no longer belong 103 00:07:36,340 --> 00:07:39,160 to him. 104 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,960 Remember the theme of chapter 15 of John is fellowship, not relationship. 105 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:50,040 It seems as though Jesus could be speaking here regarding that action of God whereby 106 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:55,040 he removes a believer who has no fruit in his life, that is removes him physically from 107 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,600 this world. 108 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:03,960 In 1 Corinthians 11, the chapter where we find a clear statement of the early church's 109 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:10,240 practice of this ordinance that we observe tonight, the apostle warns about those believers 110 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:18,600 who have died, implication prematurely, the ones that God has removed from the world because 111 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:26,240 their lives were consumed by the flesh, by the works of the flesh and not spiritual fruit. 112 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:31,680 It may be that there is a warning here in Jesus' statement about that, saying if there 113 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:39,360 is no fruit, the Father may well exercise that discipline of removing us from the world. 114 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:44,760 However, this word also potentially can be understood as lift up. 115 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:53,800 It seems to me in the context of a grape vine, a vineyard, that that particular understanding 116 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,360 of the word would seem to be the best. 117 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,680 Why is it that a branch might need to be lifted up? 118 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:08,160 Well, it's because a branch sometimes of a grape vine can be down, hidden underneath 119 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:13,320 the growth of the rest of the vine where it's not getting proper sunlight. 120 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:18,640 And it can't even get down into the dirt so that the vine dresser, the husbandman of 121 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:25,440 the vineyard, comes along and picks up that branch, gets it out of the dirt and moves 122 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:32,520 it so that the sun will be able to light up on that branch, the result of that being fruit 123 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,980 grown from it. 124 00:09:34,980 --> 00:09:39,440 It seems to me that that is what Jesus is speaking about here, that when there is no 125 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,880 fruit in my life or in your life, the vine dresser, our heavenly Father, comes to us 126 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,280 and lifts us up. 127 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:53,200 He picks us up out of that dirt that we may be in at the moment and moves us into a position 128 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:58,600 where we are in the sunlight, where we can begin to bear fruit. 129 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:05,920 It seems to me that what is being spoken about here is called elsewhere in the New Testament 130 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,080 chastisement. 131 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,600 Hebrews chapter 12 is a lengthy statement regarding chastisement. 132 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:19,240 It says there that God chastises everyone that He loves, every son that He loves, every 133 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:26,400 child of His receives chastisement, His correction. 134 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:31,640 And it also says He scourges the son in whom He delights. 135 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:38,540 The scourging is the more serious form of chastisement. 136 00:10:38,540 --> 00:10:44,360 God begins by some less serious form of bringing correction to us. 137 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:50,880 Perhaps it is conviction that comes to our hearts through something that we heard preached 138 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:57,240 or some verse of scripture from our devotional life that pricks us and we see immediately 139 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:02,000 where we are down in the dirt as it were and it is causing us to be fruitless for that 140 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,560 moment. 141 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,680 And God through that process is seeking to correct us. 142 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:11,640 And then God can bring circumstances into our lives. 143 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,840 And I think as many of us have experienced, God can make those circumstances progressively 144 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:23,320 severe to the point it is as though God gets out the whip and He scourges us. 145 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,180 That is not a very pleasant experience. 146 00:11:25,180 --> 00:11:30,120 We heard Pastor Kramer honestly confess this morning about a switching he got when he was 147 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:31,120 a boy. 148 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,920 He certainly needed it, trying to set the barn on fire. 149 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:39,240 Well there are times when you and I need a good spanking and God is not hesitant to give 150 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,920 that to us because He loves us. 151 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:47,240 And He is committed that we should bear fruit. 152 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,720 And so He brings discipline to us. 153 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,000 And doing that lifts us up. 154 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,000 He pulls us away from that dirt, that area of our life where we are hidden and out of 155 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,920 the sunlight and gets us out there where we can receive the sunlight and begin to bear 156 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,120 fruit. 157 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:04,220 That is the second stage. 158 00:12:04,220 --> 00:12:06,980 We do begin to bear fruit. 159 00:12:06,980 --> 00:12:11,760 Sometimes it's painful the way God pulls us, the way God lifts us up. 160 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:12,880 It's uncomfortable to us. 161 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:14,520 We don't like it. 162 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:15,520 It hurts. 163 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,480 But God is doing it for our own good. 164 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:20,480 Then fruit begins. 165 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,240 We begin to bear fruit. 166 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:23,440 And God is pleased with that. 167 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,560 But notice that He is not fully pleased. 168 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,960 What does He do when we begin to bear fruit? 169 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:34,320 He says, He prunes. 170 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:35,640 He prunes. 171 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:44,920 Now what is the difference between being lifted up or in the analogy we're using being chastised 172 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:46,920 and being pruned? 173 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:54,200 Well I heard a very fine sermon this last week that really dealt with this fully. 174 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:59,280 Bruce Wilkinson who is with Walk Through the Bible if any of you are familiar with him, 175 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:04,440 he's at the pastors conference where I was and beautifully explained this. 176 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:09,560 Challenged us not only to understand it but to apply this to our lives. 177 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:16,280 He pointed out the fact that chastisement and pruning often feel identical. 178 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,680 On the one hand God is chastising us because of some disobedience in our lives. 179 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:22,120 And we're not bearing fruit. 180 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,600 We're down in the dirt. 181 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:32,760 The pruning takes place when we are bearing fruit. 182 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:41,520 Whatever happens to us in the pruning process may feel like the chastening to us. 183 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:46,520 But God's motive, God's purpose is entirely different. 184 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:51,900 The situation when we're being pruned is that we are bearing fruit and God's desire is to 185 00:13:51,900 --> 00:13:56,560 remove from us all that excess growth that takes our strength and our energy and our 186 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:03,560 resources so that we concentrate more in bearing fruit and not just growing leaves. 187 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:05,640 And so he prunes us. 188 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:16,720 Dr. Wilkinson pointed out the fact that because our pruning often feels like chastening we 189 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:22,360 get the two confused. 190 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:28,560 And when we're being pruned we say, Lord, I don't know if sin is in my life. 191 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,440 Why are you chastening me? 192 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:35,160 And we can get upset with God even to the point of becoming angry and bitter because 193 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:39,200 we misunderstand what God is doing. 194 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:45,360 God is not chastening us though it feels maybe like chastening but God is pruning us. 195 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:51,480 There isn't sin there that needs to be dealt with but there is excess growth that's not 196 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:52,480 needed. 197 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,360 There are some things in our lives that hinder us from bearing the kind of fruit He wants 198 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:57,400 us to bear. 199 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:04,120 And so He prunes, He chops off those extra things. 200 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:09,400 And as he also pointed out, God risks to do that. 201 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:16,200 He risks our misunderstanding and becoming angry at Him and thus falling out of fellowship 202 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,520 so that He can prune. 203 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:25,280 How often has God come to you and me when we have been obedient and there has been fruit 204 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,360 in our lives and He's begun to prune? 205 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:33,160 We've thought He's been chastising us for sin but we couldn't find any sin. 206 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:34,480 We've misunderstood what He's doing. 207 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,800 We've gotten angry and bitter at God and the result of that is we fall out of fellowship 208 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:45,640 and then we need the chastisement. 209 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,960 Part of growing up spiritually is being able to discern the difference between the time 210 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:57,480 when God is chastening us and when God is pruning us. 211 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,040 They feel the same very often. 212 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:05,480 But on the one hand, God is dealing with sin in our lives that is hindering us from bearing 213 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,880 any fruit at all. 214 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:09,720 He wants us to bear fruit. 215 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:17,920 But on the other case, God is pruning us so that we might bear not just fruit but more 216 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:24,400 fruit and we might be more fruitful to Him. 217 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,560 What is it that allows us to move from the stage of bearing more fruit to bearing much 218 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:30,560 fruit? 219 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:37,520 Well, He slips into there that response on our part of abiding in verse 4. 220 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:41,480 He says, abide in me and I in you. 221 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,480 The branch cannot bear fruit of itself. 222 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:44,480 That's true, isn't it? 223 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:49,240 Have you ever cut a branch off a fruit tree and pruning it, lay it over to the side and 224 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:50,720 then see it bear fruit? 225 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,480 Of course not. 226 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,040 It's cut off from its supply of life. 227 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:56,040 It withers. 228 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,560 It's gone. 229 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,840 Jesus said, no more can you unless you abide in me. 230 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:03,840 What is abiding? 231 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:05,840 What is Jesus talking about? 232 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:10,960 Well, He explains what abiding is. 233 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:15,240 Abiding is obeying. 234 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,040 Abiding is obeying. 235 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:23,840 To remain or to continue or to abide in the vine simply means that you and I are obeying 236 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,280 Him. 237 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:32,640 1 John 3 24 says, and the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him. 238 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,960 That's 1 John 3 24. 239 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,320 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him. 240 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:44,240 What is the secret of bearing much fruit in our lives? 241 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,640 It is abiding in fellowship with Him. 242 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:53,200 Even through the pruning process, when it hurts and it's painful, not because God is 243 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:59,320 dealing with some sin but because He's seeking to remove the excesses of our lives. 244 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:04,400 Wanting us to be more disciplined. 245 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,420 So often we're more interested in the leaves than we are in the fruit, aren't we? 246 00:18:09,420 --> 00:18:13,840 We want to hang on to all this green stuff we have in our lives. 247 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:18,680 God is not interested so much in the leaves as He is in the fruit that remains. 248 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,840 Leaves do not remain. 249 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,920 God wants fruit and fruit that remains. 250 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:26,920 Eternal fruit. 251 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:33,280 And He tells us that this condition of abiding is that which glorifies the Father. 252 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:38,960 Tonight, each one of us is in some stage here if we belong to Jesus Christ. 253 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:44,280 There's the possibility that there's no fruit in our lives at all. 254 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:52,200 And I can guarantee you that if that is the case, that the heavenly husbandmen will come 255 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:54,720 to you and will chase you. 256 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:56,760 He does me. 257 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,640 He does every person who belongs to Him because He loves us. 258 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:10,240 And He will seek to lift us up so that we can begin to bear fruit. 259 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:17,720 If tonight you are bearing fruit, then rejoice when God comes to you with the shears, with 260 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:18,720 the snippers. 261 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:25,240 And He begins to cut out of your life the things that are unnecessary, that are absorbing 262 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,640 that time, absorbing that energy, that are not really producing fruit. 263 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,160 It's just green growth. 264 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:39,880 Rejoice, because what He's trying to do is to channel that energy, that life, so that 265 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,320 it will bear more fruit. 266 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:47,120 And as you continue and abide in fellowship with Him through that pruning process, then 267 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:51,960 much fruit will be in your life. 268 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:57,180 He does say in verse 6, if anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch 269 00:19:57,180 --> 00:19:59,720 and dries up. 270 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,960 And they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 271 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,160 There are many interpretations of verse 6. 272 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,480 It's not an easy verse to understand. 273 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,400 We know from other teaching of Scripture that the Lord cannot be saying here that one who 274 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:20,840 is a branch in the vine can be cut off and then thrown away and ultimately burned in 275 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,160 hell. 276 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,560 But there are people who have a theology that accommodate that point of view. 277 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,400 It is not biblical in my opinion. 278 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,280 I don't think it can be substantiated biblically. 279 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,120 But there are Christians who believe that. 280 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:39,480 I think we have to be careful in pushing the analogy too far. 281 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,240 That's true with parables. 282 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,440 It's true with analogies. 283 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,280 We can't push them too far. 284 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,960 The point that Jesus is simply making here, I think, is that a branch that does not bear 285 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:56,120 fruit loses its purpose. 286 00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:02,220 Barnhouse perhaps put it the best when he said, this refers to, quote, loss of usefulness 287 00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:06,760 in the present life and reward in heaven. 288 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:07,760 Close quote. 289 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:14,640 A week ago we looked at that verse in Revelation chapter 2, a serious verse where Jesus said, 290 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,580 Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first 291 00:21:18,580 --> 00:21:25,120 or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you 292 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:26,120 repent. 293 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:27,960 This is a verse similar to that. 294 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,280 It's a severe action on the Lord's part. 295 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:39,680 The works of our lives which have not borne fruit, the mere leaves, just that greenery 296 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:45,440 that may be impressive, it may be attractive, it may cause people to marvel and applaud, 297 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:51,160 but is really of no eternal worth, all of that's going to burn some day at the judgment 298 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:52,160 seat. 299 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:53,160 It's going to go up in smoke. 300 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,080 There's nothing left of that. 301 00:21:55,080 --> 00:22:03,720 What remains is fruit that is produced through us as we abide in Jesus Christ and as His 302 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:09,120 life flows through us and we have that fruit of answered prayer, the fruit of joy that 303 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:15,160 is full of love, that sacrifices, of understanding of the things of God, of persecution that 304 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:20,400 we don't deserve, a witness that is Spirit empowered of people coming to Christ as that 305 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:27,320 fruit is produced in us and remains and the Father is glorified. 306 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:33,000 So I ask the question tonight, are you abiding? 307 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,000 Are you abiding? 308 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,120 Is there much fruit in your life? 309 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,160 Or are you at the stage of more fruit? 310 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,160 Is God pruning? 311 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:45,320 Is He snipping, clipping, perhaps washing? 312 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:46,320 Does it hurt? 313 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:53,320 Well, if it does, remember His purpose in it. 314 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,040 As we come to the Lord's table, it's an appropriate time for us to examine ourselves, 315 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:03,000 says the apostle, just to see what kind of fruit there is in our lives. 316 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:11,680 He went out from that last supper, walked through the vineyards there on the hills on 317 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:17,680 the way to the Garden of Gethsemane and from there He was taken to the Judgment Hall and 318 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:23,720 from there to Calvary where He paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. 319 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:30,360 Today the vine, the true vine, I mean the genuine one is in heaven. 320 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:34,540 But His branches come out from heaven right down here to the earth and that's you and 321 00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:38,960 me and His desire is that we might bear much fruit. 322 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:45,680 Let's allow the Lord's table tonight to be a time when we can be lifted up and we respond 323 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:52,840 to that or where we're being pruned and God is seeking to cause us to cut off some things 324 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,720 maybe, maybe even good things. 325 00:23:54,720 --> 00:24:00,880 But we say, Lord, I'm going to set that aside that I might bear much fruit. 326 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,560 That's His purpose and what a wonderful purpose it is. 327 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:09,600 Would you join me in prayer? 328 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,700 How about it my friend? 329 00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:16,280 What kind of fruit is there in your life? 330 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,840 What stage are you at? 331 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,160 Are you a branch in the vine? 332 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:28,380 Well if so, is there fruit, the kind of fruit that remains? 333 00:24:28,380 --> 00:24:34,160 Are you abiding? 334 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:40,840 When God chastens us, I don't believe He leaves us in the dark as to what His concern is. 335 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:48,040 I think one of the ways we can know the difference between chastening and pruning is that God 336 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:53,720 makes it very clear to our conscience when there is something in our life that displeases 337 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,100 Him. 338 00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:58,200 That's chastening. 339 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,780 That's the process of chastening. 340 00:25:01,780 --> 00:25:09,080 If there's something tonight that's displeasing the Lord, if there's conviction in your heart, 341 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:19,840 perhaps it is some attitude or action or the words of your mouth. 342 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,240 Then deal with that in confession. 343 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,120 Don't come to the Lord's table until you do. 344 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:37,360 If you do, you eat and drink judgment to yourself and you face the terrible possibility of beyond 345 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:49,160 scourging being removed. 346 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:56,760 If God is snipping and clipping in your life and you are not aware of a specific sin, perhaps 347 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,160 you need to understand that is His pruning process. 348 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:07,820 You may have been complaining at God a bit because of what you're going through. 349 00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:12,480 It's hurt and you've griped. 350 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,440 Maybe you've even gotten angry or bitter at God. 351 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:20,760 If so, that needs to be confessed, doesn't it? 352 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,920 Is God pruning you? 353 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,360 Do you need to say, Father, thank you. 354 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:34,160 Thank you for pruning me. 355 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:40,560 Our heavenly Father, we are so glad that you're committed that we might bear much fruit, eternal 356 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,560 fruit. 357 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,960 Forgive us so often for being satisfied with just leaves. 358 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,360 I pray that you will make us desire as much as you desire, that our lives be characterized 359 00:26:55,360 --> 00:27:03,040 by spiritual fruit that abides just as we abide in the vine. 360 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:19,480 In Jesus' name, amen.