A Vision of Fruitfulness Ps 22:26-32 Acts 8:2-40 1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8
Introduction
The Bible begins with a garden full of fruit-bearing trees (Gen 1:12) where all living creatures, including us, were commanded “to be fruitful and multiply” (1:22,28). Creation is constructed for fruitfulness. Despite all the current threats of extinction, the scriptures final vision is of an earth teeming with humans and a continuously watered tree of life bearing fruit month by month (Rev 22:1-2).
Fruitfulness is a dynamic and reality. I run a small tutorial group in the city and one of the most animated presentations was on gardens in the Bible from a missionary who has seen the transformation of infertile land in Indonesia into a tropical paradise. His palpable passion released a wave of enthusiasm in our group because there’s something gripping about seeing multiplication through God’s wise ways. Jesus’ story of the Vine and the branches teaches that only if we do things God’s way will we see the fruitfulness he designed us for.
An Emerging Vision
The Old Testament contains multiple levels of meaning. It begins with a material promise to Abraham that he will have descendants “as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore” (Gen 22:17). Yet the more prophetic passages under the old covenant point to a form of fruitfulness far more profound than having many descendants. “4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Isa 56:3-5). Even though the Ethiopian eunuch in our Acts reading was forbidden under the law of to worship in the Jerusalem temple, when he but turned to Christ he became complete in God’s forever family and so was filled with joy (8:39). The fruit of the gospel is far more powerful than any physical propagation.
John 15
Jesus said, “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.” (vv.1-3)
Israel was a vine lovingly planted by God and given every advantage to flourish but she produced only wild inedible grapes of idolatry (Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21) and so was judged. Jesus however is the true vine who is completely fruitful to his Father. Everyone here needs to pay attention to what I am going to say next. If you find yourself chronically tense and tired this is a sign you are trying to bring forth fruit from your own resources. (JY warned of this years ago, didn’t listen, very painful results) You are not Jesus; you are not the vine. You cannot be the vine so be satisfied with being a branch and allow Jesus to produce fruit through you.
To ensure maximum fruitfulness on a branch every useless twig needs to be completely removed. If this is true for ordinary branches how much more will God prune us, and he does this through his Word. Which is why every mature Christian I have ever met has had a healthy respect for the Bible. You don’t have to memorise scripture or know exactly where passages are located, but expose to scripture so God can speak to you through it is indispensable to bearing spiritual fruit. E.g. JY listening to the Bible on CD’s in car. Submission to the teaching of the Bible strips us of useless dead works that do not profit the kingdom of God (cf. John 13:10; Heb 9:14).
Very importantly, when Jesus says to the disciples, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (v.3) he uses an expression which elsewhere means the cleansing of full forgiveness (John 13:10). The Christian with a clean conscience free to draw near to the Lord without any fear of judgement.
What exactly is the “fruit” that a Christian should bear in their lives? Christlikeness! In his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount on spiritual con men Jesus expounded the character of fruit, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (Matt 7:16-18) a friend of mine was hosting a healer with wonderful stories a while ago and some of us had reason to believe he was a fraud. When I asked the friend about how much money the man had taken form him he refused to answer. This was a sure sign the man was a false prophet because Jesus never asked for money. Remember the “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). Fruit is pre-eminently Christlike character.
When Jesus said to the disciples, “apart from me you can do nothing” (v.5) he was merely preaching what he practiced. A she said earlier in this Gospel, “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.” (5:19). No one can express the life of Christ without having his life in them (cf. Col 1:16, 27 etc.). There are lots of people in the world who are good, kind, compassionate, merciful and so on, but if God cannot see the life of his Son in them they will endure the fate Jesus taught, “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.” (v.6). Whatever Jesus literally meant when he spoke of the eternal fire of punishment (Matt 25:41, 46) he meant something too dreadful for words. If heaven was ultimately designed for Jesus (Col 1:16) only those who have been born again (John 3:3-6) with his life in them will be at home there. All of the promises of Jesus for us bearing “much fruit” hinge on our “abiding” “in me” (vv.4-6). What precisely does this mean and why does it seem to be so difficult? Basically, it means to be totally dependent on Jesus.
In the beginning Adam was to “cleave/hold fast” to Eve (Gen 2:24) and in the Old Testament Israel is commanded to do the same (Deut 10:20; 11:22; 13:4; 30:20; Josh 22:; 23:8-11). Just as your children/grandchildren sometimes need to hug you we in times of need we always need to hold fast to the Lord. Sometimes I feel my need for the Lord so strongly I just grab hold of a wire fence or throw my arms around a pole in the street. (Don’t be embarrassed, its always dark and no one but God ca see.)
Loving the Fruit
If you love Jesus like he loves you (John 15:9) you will passionately abide in Jesus because the most important thing in your life is to be like him. A long time ago in a mid-life crisis the Lord spoke to me from a text in Hosea which has never lost its force, “O Israel, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen tree; all your fruitfulness comes from me.” (Hos 14:8). If we hold fast to anything before the Lord, spouse/family/work…..self-image we make that thing an idol and we will not bear the fruit God is seeking, but if we cling to him we will never cease to bear godly fruit.
Jesus has a way of saying things that embarrass us. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (v.7 cf. John 14:13; 15:16; 1 John 5:14-15). I can remember a few seasons in my life when I felt I was so close to Jesus that all my prayers were being answered. There’s a wonderful promise in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If we delight ourselves in the Lord our hearts only want what he wants, and our prayers are answered. Unanswered prayer is a sign of a lack of abiding in the vine so that we are ask things that are not God’s will.
All this comes together in verse 8. “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” As Jesus brought glory to the Father by making disciples in his own likeness, we bring glory to the Son of God by making disciples in Christ’s likeness. We were all created to help as many people as possible to become as much like Jesus as possible. Doing this, rather than church going, Bible reading or feeding the hungry etc (all of which are good in themselves) is the final evidence that we are followers of Jesus. This is the secret dynamic of New Testament Christianity.
A Gospel Vision
The apostle Paul boldly states that “the word of the truth, the gospel” …“is bearing fruit and increasing”… “in the whole world” through “the grace of God” (Col 1:5-6 cf. Isa 27:6). Let me contextualise the centrality of this. Of course the Christians in India and in Myanmar that I know are grieving for their nations, but in their acute grief they are crying out to God to use their national disasters for his glory by bringing many to salvation (Heb 2:10). God will answer such prayers because these prayers are good fruit for his glory. How different from us, because the average Australian Christian does not daily dedicate his/her life only to the glory of God.
Conclusion
We were created to be branches constantly bearing good fruit for God (cf. Eph 2:10). To this end our loving heavenly Father is working to prune our lives every single day. This is a painful process that causes many of stress because we don’t spiritually discern its goal is increasing Christ-likeness so that we might impact people for the kingdom of God. Let me be blunt. Do others see the tangible fruit of discipleship so that they in turn become more like Jesus. If there is no evidence of this you could be a dead branch destined for the fire. Turn to Christ cling to Christ and be saved.) Do we realise that the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus to examine the fruit of his churches (cf. Rev 2-3)? As Jesus warned some of the churches in the book of Revelation they were terminally ill (2:5; 3:1), so he is warning us today that unless we abide in him in new depth our days are numbered. Today, let each of us let Jesus be the vine for our lives bringing forth fruit through us for others for the glory of God. Let him do through us the works which will prove that we are his disciples.