Fruit
Authentic Christianity - #5 of 7
Jerry Watts
John 15:1-8
* Consider this conversation between a farmer and his tree.
* FARMER: Good morning tree! How are you doing today?
* TREE: Just fine, farmer! My, isn't it a lovely morning?
* FARMER: Yes, it is. Except for one thing--where is your fruit? I see all your nice, green foliage and your sturdy trunk and root system, BUT WHERE IS YOUR FRUIT?
* TREE: Master, you will notice I am more firmly anchored than any tree in the orchard. I have the most beautiful leaves to be seen anywhere! I have no broken, sagging branches or scuff marks from workmen's shoes on my limbs.
* FARMER: That's well and good, but I planted you for the purpose of bearing fruit, not to look pretty and preserve yourself! Suppose all of my trees had your attitude! Why have you not produced fruit?
* TREE: I tried bearing fruit once a few years ago. Some of the beautiful fruit I worked so hard to produce fell to the ground and became rotten. The odor was terrible. My limbs would bend and break and in the effort my whole system was strained--it was all one tree could stand! Then the workmen came and climbed my tender limbs and snapped my branches with their rapid strokes. To top it all, I produced the most fruit of any tree in the orchard and I didn't get any glory! No, I am content to stay right here and leave fruit-bearing to some other tree. After experiences like these, what do you expect?
* FARMER: I expect you will make beautiful logs for my fireplace!
* Playing the part of the tree would be us, all believers, while playing the part of the Farmer would be the Lord. Jesus always reserved His harshest judgment for the unfruitful. You and I are expected to produce fruit & good fruit at that!
* So take to heart a statement which will serve us well during this time:
* Every person or life produces fruit of some kind. What kind do you produce & how are you producing your ‘life’s’ fruit? Candidly, “Every person believes they are producing anything but good fruit.” Yet Jesus makes it as clear as a sunny day, that not everyone produces fruit because no one can, by themselves, produce good fruit.
* Let’s unpack our text together. He begins by giving us the secret of producing fruit.
1. The Power to produce good fruit – Jesus begins by identifying the source of our fruit and the power to produce fruit. He says, ‘I am the vine and my Father is the vinedresser.’ The Father holds the power and the Son is the conduit by which God sends His power. Here’s the deal; “Connected to the vine, you’ll always be fine.”
* Through the vine (a metaphor for our Lord) we receive the power that we need to produce good fruit. All we have to do is be connected to the vine.
* No one in here can ‘grow’ a tomato plant by yourself. Yes, you can plant seed or re-sod a young plant. You can fertilize it, water it, and even ‘baby it.’ But you do not possess the power to grow it. If you attempt to produce a tomato apart from the power which God has given through agriculture, it will fail. This comes from an unseen act of nature (actually it is an unseen hand). Without God’s hand working in nature, you will never produce one tomato.
* Without God’s hand in and on your life, you will never produce any fruit which will be considered by God as GOOD.
* In life, you cannot produce good fruit by yourself. Yes, you will produce fruit as everybody produces fruit of some kind, but the Bible says, it will not be good fruit rather the fruit which Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7. To read verses 15-20 is to realize that Jesus is teaching Believers produce good fruit while it is non-believers who produce bad fruit. The expectation from our Lord is that authentic believers are tied to the vine and produce good fruit. In Matthew 12 Jesus said, “A good tree brings good fruit and a bad tree brings bad fruit. A tree is known by its fruit.”
* An African native came to America for a brief visit and of all the things he love, he loved the lights. He carried a porch light & bulb home, installed it, & it didn’t work. Why? Because he didn’t have access to the power. Can you make the parallel?
* I ask you, “What is the fruit of your life?” “What type of fruit are you known for?” “How does God value what you produce?” Both Jesus and John the Baptist taught, “Produce fruit consistent with your repentance. By the way, “you attempt to produce good (or godly) fruit on your own; you’ll die a slow death.” He’s the power.
2. The Problem for non-producing branches – Let’s say it again; “Jesus gave His most severe judgment to the unfruitful.” He walked up to the fig tree and not finding any figs, cursed the tree. And the tree was dead in 24 hours. Verse 2 & verse 6 gives us a frightening truth which we, seem to, ignore.
* The non-producing branch(es) are removed, stacked in a pile, and burned. The very reason they are not producing is because they are ‘not connected to the power source’ & so they become diseased, dysfunctional, and even die. The Lord’s judgment on the non-producing is destruction. We don’t like this message?
* Consider the message of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:10), Jesus’ message in Matthew 7:19, and His follow-up word in Matthew 15:13. This is serious to God.
* So what is fruit or fruitfulness? Ron Dunn gives a great definition when he says, “Fruit is the outward expression of the inner nature.” If I see an apple, an orange, or even a pear hanging from a tree, what do I guess that tree is? Since I cannot recognize a tree by its leaves, I can KNOW by its fruit. The fruit comes from the makeup of the tree. It is the same for every individual.
* If Jesus is on the inside, spiritual fruit will be seen on the outside. If I am abiding in Christ, then the fruits of the spirit will be evident & result in people coming to Christ. Whatever is on the inside of you is exactly what is coming out of you. People observe & know. Most of us want to know what we are really made of. Candidly, consider the ‘default setting’ of your mind. What you are alone, where does your mind gravitate to? Are you drawn to Christ? Are you listening for His voice?
3. The Pruning required to produce more fruit – Most of us know & understand this process of pruning. It’s the process of trimming the extra growth or the dead limbs to allow for more fruit to be produced. I saw Paw-paw to this with his pecan tree.
* Ron Dunn tells a story about talking with a vineyard keeper about this. Ron asked if he would help me throw some light on this. He said, oh yes, that's very easy to understand. He said, in every vine there are branches who have only a superficial attachment to the vine, just a skin attachment. You can take a knife and cut that outer skin all around & the branch will fall off because the branch itself is not penetrating into the vine. And it has just enough of the life flowing through it to bear leaves and to stay there. But it has no vital union or connection. So it does not bear fruit & he removes it. If I am in Christ, and abiding in Christ, and he is abiding in me, then the evidence of that will be fruitfulness in my life because His power is flowing through me. Pruning in the spiritual realm involves trials, troubles, and tests. Before long, we will be hearing from God’s word about ‘adversity’. God uses adversity to prune us. We ‘think’ we’re good or ‘big’, but as my mom would say, “Sometimes we get too big for our britches and need to be brought down a notch.” This is the pruning process. We are trimmed back for dependence on Him.
4. The Possibilities for producing much fruit – Have you seen the 4 stages of producing fruit? There is the no-fruit, there is simply producing fruit, there is producing more fruit, and the ultimate is producing much fruit. Producing much fruit is the level which ‘glorifies God.’ This is the message of Jesus. God set His plans in motion for us to be productive. We do not serve a God who simply produces; He produces MUCH (of whatever it is)!
* In the Old Testament, He began with a HUGE GARDEN PLACE. He then provided the Jewish exiles both manna & meat in bulk. Through David, He provided enough raw material for Solomon to build the temple. In the New Testament, our Lord took a few fish & loaves of bread to feed 5000+. At Pentecost, He saved 3000 people at one time. In Acts 4, two Chapters later He had saved another 2000 people. The reason He could do this was because at Calvary, through the death of His Son, God provided enough forgiveness for every person who ever lived to come to faith through the repentance of their sin! God produces much fruit.
* In the life of every person who repents, believes, and follows Jesus, God gives the power to be witnesses for Him and produce disciples in Him. Honestly, the power is available today to produce fruit. What are we doing with what we have been given?
* Most of us are familiar with the words of Matthew 16. This is the place where Jesus commissions the church with His power to overcome hell itself. The picture is of the church attacking the gates of hell to retrieve lost people. After these words, as Jesus is attempting to explain to the disciples about the cross Peter takes Him aside & rebukes the Lord. “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus says & then continues, “You are an offense to be because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.”
* I am afraid that these words of our Lord are the very words which He might speak to us in the matter of producing fruit in our lives. I wonder if we have become so con-cerned with our own agenda, that God’s agenda of producing fruit, doesn’t count.
5. The Proof fruit reveals – Verse 8 tells the tale. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and “PROVE” to be my disciples. Brothers & sisters, Jesus is saying more than, “You’ll be known by your fruit.” He is saying that ‘we’ll be known by the type and amount of our fruit.” It all tells the tale.
* Let me tell you what I know; one day every person will stand before God and give a detailed account for your life. This account will not be about your checking’s account, savings account, retirement account, or any other account that we deem important down here. You will give an account for the fruit of your entire life, not just the part you want to cover – but all of it.
* Years ago we sang an old hymn. It has been left out of the ’75, ’93, and the ’09 hymn book. I found it in the 1956 book. Verse 1 & 2 and the chorus gives a plea;
Must I go, and empty-handed, Thus my dear Redeemer meet,
Not one day of service give Him, Lay no trophies at His feet?
Not at death I shrink nor falter, for my Savior saves me now;
But to meet Him empty-handed, thought of that now clouds my brow.
Must I go an empty-handed? Must I meet my Savior so?
Not one soul with which to greet Him: Must I empty-handed go?
* The proof of your is the fruit of your life! What is that fruit?
