FRUIT OF THE BRANCHES I
Series on John 15 pt. 10
John 15:4
2/25/07
God’s Word! This is God’s Word (Bible). God! Not the words of a man named Matthew, John or Paul, but God. God speaking to us. While many folks say they believe that this is God’s Word, it seems rather odd that their actions seem to say something different. If we really believe that these are the Words of our creator, the Words of our Lord and Saviour, then why do we not have the desire to study it as we should. Why do we not care about what it really says?
You see I like to read. I enjoy my Field and Stream magazine as well as other hunting magazines. I like to read my Military History Magazine. I do read the Daily Star, (though it would be a stretch to say I really enjoy it. But I read it). But you see those are the words of men and women, of mere mortals. But God Word calls us to a higher ideal. While I read those things I study God’s Word. I want to know not just what it says, (reading), I want to know what it really means, (studying). Every week I seek to open up to you the riches of God’s Word. I seek not just to read it you, but to show you what it really means.
Some may ask me, How can you take months to preach through a single chapter of the gospel of John? If I just read it to you, it would take a week or two. But I desire for you to know what is God is telling us, what is He telling you!
I can honestly say that I find great joy in unfolding God’s Word, digging into it to uncover it’s gems. I further find great joy in communicating those gems to you. That is why it takes me months to get through a chapter of John’s gospel. To do otherwise I believe is to neglect God’s Word. To neglect my call to proclaim God’s Word. To spend little time looking into God’s words is to, I my view, say that God does not have that much to say, or what He does say is simply not that important us. However God’s word to me is important, and He has so much to tell us, and that is why I spent the time I do in preaching through passages of Scripture.
With that in mind let us turn to our passage for today. Which is once more going to be John 15:4.
John 15:4 “"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
In order for a person to fully understand what is being said in this verse, as well as the first part of John 15, you have to have some understand of some key words in the passage. If you do not have an understanding of these key words, then the passage makes little sense. That pretty much tell is what we have been doing in our study thus far into John 15.
First you have to understand who the vine is; “"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
If I have a improper view of who the vine is, my whole understanding of the passage will be faulty. We have seen that the vine, that is the true vine is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
We have to know who the branches are. “"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Again, if we do not have an understanding of just who these branches are, then we have a defective view of the whole passage. We have seen that there are two branches here. Just as you have a TRUE vine, we have true branches. We also have counterfeit branches, which as we have seen are counterfeit Christians. These are mentioned in John 15:2 & 6. These are the fruitless branches. The true branches that Jesus is speaking of here in John 15:4 are indeed true believers in Christ, those who have been born again of the Spirit of God.
Also to understand 15:4 we must know what it means to abide in Christ. “"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
We spent a couple weeks looking at what it is to abide in Christ. We looked at some very practical ways by which we are to abide in Christ. Once more we can see if we have a distorted view of what it is to abide in Christ, we end up with a distorted view of the whole passage of Scripture.
There is one more key word that we must have an understanding of if we are to grasp what God is telling us here in John 15. That is the word fruit.
“"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Once more we see that we must have an understand of this word if we are to understand this passage correctly. You see you could “read” this verse, but if you do not study it to get the proper understanding of these key words, then you will not have an understanding of this passage. You cannot know what God is saying here unless you understand these words.
So we have looked at the vine, the branches, abiding, now let us turn our attention to this fruit that Jesus is here speaking of.
The word for fruit here is the Greek word, “KARPOS”. This word is used in scripture both in a literal way, and a metaphorical way. Vine NT Greek dictionary defines it this way; First in the literal way; “…of the fruit of trees, fields, the earth, that which is produced by the inherent energy of a living organism.”
Then in the metaphorical way, “…of works or deeds, "fruit" being the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly, the character of the "fruit" being evidence of the character of the power producing it,” Read that again.
I like that definition. The fruit that we bear is the evidence of the nature of the power is at work in us. James Montgomery Boice defines biblical fruit as, “The likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ in His followers.”
As we dig deeper into how fruit is used in the Scripture we ought to keep those definitions in mind.
Before we get into the details of Biblical fruit I want us to look at some general components regarding fruit.
First, every life bears fruit. Every person bears some sort of fruit. As Vines states fruit is “…the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisible….”
So the questions is not “Am I Producing fruit?” Because yes you are. The question is “What kind of fruit am I producing?” What is the power working in me that is producing fruit in my life? That my friends is a vital question.
We all are producing something. Some produce hatred, lust, love of money, bitterness, greed, jealousy. Some produce love, kindness, grace, compassion. We all have fruit. But again, the question is what kind of fruit?
The Bible is clear that there is two kinds of fruit. Good fruit and bad fruit. Sounds simple enough. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20;
“"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor [can] a bad tree bear good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Let us spent a few minutes looking at what our Lord Jesus is saying here. Jesus states here that you will know these false prophets by the fruit that there lives produce. He states that twice in this passage. Verse 6, “You will know them by their fruits.” And then in verse 20; “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
This reinforces what we are told in our passage for today, John 15:4 along with verse 5; “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
The point is this, fruit, that is good fruit, is a test as to whether we are true Christians. Make sure you understand that. Fruit does not make us a Christian, but it shows that we one. We are not saved by our works, but our works demonstrate that we are saved.
I want to quote Vines again in defining fruit “…works or deeds, "fruit" being the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly, the character of the "fruit" being evidence of the character of the power producing it,”
Think of it this way. An apple tree is not made an apple tree because it bear apples. It bear apples because is it an apple tree. An apple tree begins as a seed, it grows to be a sapling, it which time it does not bear fruit. But that does not mean it is not an apple tree. As it matures it begin to produce apples. So it is not an apple tree because it bears apples, because it was a apple tree before it produced fruit.
The same with a Christian. We are born again by the Spirit of God before we ever bear fruit for Christ. But as we mature in Christ we will bear fruit for Christ. So it is not the fruit that makes us Christians, but good fruit in our lives is the test that show we are indeed Christians. It is what proves that we are true branches abiding in the true vine.
As Christ says in John 15:5; “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;”
We are going to revisit this when we look at John 15:8, but for purposes today, let us understand that fruit in our lives is a test of whether we are truly Christians.
Notice what Jesus states next in Matt 7 “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.”
He the words of Jesus are clear, there are good fruits and bad fruits. Obviously within the context of John 15 we are speaking of good fruits. Fruits that bring glory to God. Those are the ones we will be looking at greater length next week.
Jesus here asks the rhetorical question, “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” The answer is obvious, of course not! You will not find grapes growing on picker bushes, nor will you find figs on thistle bush.
Just as you will not find grapes on thorn bushes or figs on thistles, you will not find good fruit on bad trees, nor bad fruit on good trees.
In other words those not abiding in Christ WILL NOT bear good fruit. Not only will they NOT bear good fruit, the point of what Jesus is saying is that the CANNOT bear good fruit. Why? Because they are bad trees.
And those who are abiding in Christ , will in fact bear good fruit and not bad fruit.
As I said we are going to be getting into what good fruit is, but what is bad fruit. Bad fruit. I would say that basically bad fruit is that which is done apart from bringing glory to God. In other words if what we do is not done with the intent of ultimately seeking the glory of God, it is bad fruit.
Some may point out the fact that if a bad tree produces bad fruit, and cannot in fact produce good fruit. Does that mean Christians, can only produce good fruit? In others words can a true Christian produce bad fruit? After all Jesus says right there, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit.”
First let may say that we could spent a lot of time answering that question. But let me just give a basic answer. I want to point out the fact that I believe that Christians can in fact bear bad fruit. How? by not abiding Christ.
What we must understand in looking at the words of Christ is that he uses a bad tree to as a simple illustration of an unsaved person. And an unsaved person only has one nature, that being a sinful nature. And it is that nature that produces fruit. Remember the definition of fruit “…of works or deeds, "fruit" being the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly. So for the unsaved person that power at work is there sinful nature. That is why Jesus states they cannot bear good fruit, their nature does not allow them to bear good fruit.
Christ uses a good tree as a simply illustration of a saved person, one who has put their faith in Him as Lord and Saviour, and had been born again of the Spirit God. One who know has a new nature, a nature that seeks the glory of God. A nature that is able to produce good fruit, buy abiding in Christ, as we see in John 15.
But here is the rub. While a genuinely saved person as a new nature, they also still have to deal with the old nature. Read Romans 7 to see what I mean.
So a Christian bears good fruit when they are abiding in Christ. And we have seen what the means practically in other sermons. But a Christian can also bear bad fruit, when they submitting to their flesh natures.
The point is that we need to be cautious about taking illustrations too far. We need to make sure we have a understand of what the whole of Scripture teaches.
Let me just emphasis this. The intention of what Jesus is saying is that true Christians WILL eventually bear good fruit and those who are apart from Christ cannot in fact bear good fruit.
Lets get back to what bad fruit is. Bad fruit is the fruit of death. Listen to a couple of passages;
Romans 6:21 “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things (that is the fruit of which you are now ashamed) is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”
In others words, this bad fruit Jesus is speaking of in Matt. 7 is fruit the demonstrates spiritual death, which good fruit, is fruit that demonstrates, spiritual life.
Look at Romans 7:5 “For when we were in the flesh, (that is to say when you were unsaved, apart from Christ), the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.”
Once more the Scriptures point out to us that it is our fruit that demonstrates what power is at work in us. Good fruit demonstrates spiritual life, a life abiding in Christ, bad fruit demonstrates spiritual death. It is fruit to death as Rom. 7:5 puts is.
The Scripture is also very clear as to what the Spiritual death is;
Matt. 3:10 “"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Matt 7:19 “"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John 15:6 “"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
The Word of God is clear. Bad fruit demonstrates what power is at work in you. It demonstrates that you are not in Christ and if you are not in Christ you are spiritually dead. And if you die in that state you will be eternally separated from God.
Rev. 20:13-15 gives a more graphic description of what is stated in Matt. 3, 7, john 15:6 and a host of other passages;
“The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works (fruits). Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The point of all these passages is this. Your fruits will show who you belong to. They will show were your eternal destiny will be. Good fruits demonstrate that you belong to Christ. Bad fruit show that you do not. Good fruit demonstrate that your heavenly home is with the Lord Jesus Christ. Bad fruits demonstrate that you will be eternally separated from God in the lake of fire.
I know that that is not a pleasant thought and in our culture of inclusiveism it is not PC to talk about the reality of hell. But that is the truth of it and I would be remiss as a preacher of God’s Word if I left that out.
That is why it is important for us to examine our lives to be sure of our salvation. To be sure that we producing fruit, fruit that brings God glory. And next week we will begin to look at exactly what that fruit looks like.
Today we have looked at some general components regarding what the Bible calls fruit. I strived to show you the importance that our Lord Jesus Christ places on the fruit in our lives. Again it is not that we are saved by our works or what we do, but our works, our fruit demonstrate what is at work in us.
There is only one means of salvation and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation comes through the acceptance of the gospel. That Jesus Christ died for your sin, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day. Before you can bring forth good fruit. You must acknowledge that you are sinner in need of salvation and that that salvation come only through the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that every person in this room knows Christ, and that Christ knows you.
Let us pray.
