Series: NA
Title: “How to bear fruit that will last"
Scripture: John 15:1-8 NIV (Main)
Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 119:67, 71; Phil 2:5-8, 12-13; Gal 5:22-23
Acts 2:36-39 (Invitation)
Bottom line: Bearing fruit that will last calls for submitting to God's pruning as you abide in his Son.
INTRODUCTION
CONTEXT
SERMON OUTLINE
CONCLUSION
NOTES
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
OUTLINES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
MAIN REFERENCES USED
INTRODUCTION
"Life is understood backwards, but lived forward." Soren Kirkegaard
Grape illustration
"Imagine a rich man dies and leaves a fortune to his heir. News leaks out they're having trouble identifying the person who's the rightful heir. Hundreds come forward claiming to be the heir. The day comes when the judge is going to decide who receives the inheritance. Before he makes his judgment, a solitary figure enters the quiet courtroom and says, "I am the true heir." The word true means something. It means there are false heirs." -Carter, p. 304
CONTEXT
John 13-17 follows Jesus' announcement that one of them will betray him, Peter will disown him 3 times that night, and that he is about to leave them. They are distressed, to say the least.
In in this context that Jesus teaches them in the upper room before leaving to pray in the Garden of Gethsamene. Part of that teaching includes our passage today in John 15.
SERMON
OUTLINE (relies heavily on Willmington)
Jesus speaks to his disciples about fruit bearing, loving, suffering, and witnessing.
I. FRUIT BEARING (15:1-8)
A. The symbols of abiding (15:1, 5a-5b)
1. The Son is the true vine (15:1 a, 5a).
2. The Father is the gardener (15:1b).
3. The believer is the branch (15:5b).
B. The steps of abiding (15:2-4, 5c-6)
1. We must submit to pruning by the Father (15:2-3).
2. We must abide in the Son (15:4, 5c-6).
C. The success abiding (15:7-8)
1. It results in bountiful fruit (15:7-8a).
2. It results in glorifying the Father (15:8b). Newbigin says there are more than 2 successes. He says, "The four things are
1) 7answered prayer,
2) glory to the Father,
3) abundant fruit, and
4) recognition as the disciples of Jesus. And these four are closely bound together." -Newbigin
CONCLUSION
Bottom line: Bearing fruit that will last requires you to submit to his pruning as you abide in his Son.
Invitation
““Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” Acts 2:36-39 NIV
Bottom line:
What is God saying to me right now?
What am I going to do about it? Write this down on a sheet of paper.
What I hear you saying, Lord, is ___________________.
[my name] is going to believe/do __________________________________________________ as a result.
Finally, share this with your Home or Mission group this week when you gather as a testimony about what God is doing in your life. You don’t have to get too specific to give him praise.
Pray
NOTES
The Main Theme
"But, and we turn again to the main theme, where there is mutual abiding, where the words of Jesus form the ever fresh starting point from which discipleship begins at every moment, there four things follow--and all because the words of Jesus are the mighty acts of the Father (14:10b).
The four things are 1) answered prayer, 2) glory to the Father, 3) abundant fruit, and 4) recognition as the disciples of Jesus. And these four are closely bound together." -Newbigin
"15:1-8 Fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
Jesus is the vine, and believers are the branches. For a branch to bear fruit it must have been cleansed by the Father (salvation, 15:3) and must then abide in the Son (discipleship, 15:4-11). Committed believers will progress from fruit to more fruit to much fruit (15:2, 5, 8). However, if a branch fails to bear fruit, it is rejected and cast aside (15:2, 6). Various scholars suggest that these rejected branches represent Christians who
• lose their salvation; but this would contradict many other Scriptures (see exposition on 10:22-30)
• are no longer useful to God because of habitual sin (These people tend to discourage, distract and divide the church)`
• commit the "sin that leads to death" mentioned in 1 John 5:16, in which case the "burning" (15:6) may refer to the
"bema" judgment of believers (see exposition on 1 Cor. 3:10-17)
• are merely professing Christians, who are finally severed from their superficial connection with Christ (as had already happened with Judas)"
--Wilmington
Why does the branch bear fruit?
The branch does not bear fruit for itself but for others.
Why does God want the branch to bear more fruit?
So that others will receive more fruit than they would have otherwise.
I think this is why the most fruitful missionaries often battled suffering. Because that is how God often chooses to prune us. Perhaps this is why God felt good allowing Job to suffer as he did. He knew it would result in more fruitfulness in his life than he would have born otherwise.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Who is God?
What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?
Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)
What do I get to do? (In light of who I am)
How do I do it?
Let’s ask some summary sermon questions:
Q. What do I want them to know?
A.
Q. Why do I want them to know it?
A.
Q. What do I want them to do about it?
A.
Q. Why do I want them to do it?
A.
Q. How can they begin to do this?
A.
OUTLINES
OUTLINE BIBLE, JOHN 15
Jesus speaks to his disciples about fruit bearing, loving, suffering, and witnessing.
I. FRUIT BEARING (15:1-8)
A. The symbols (15:1, 5a-5b)
1. The Son is the true vine (15:1 a, 5a).
2. The Father is the gardener (15:1b).
3. The believer is the branch (15:5b).
B. The steps (15:2-4, 5c-6)
1. We must submit to pruning by the Father (15:2-3).
2. We must abide in the Son (15:4, 5c-6).
C. The success (15:7-8)
1. It results in bountiful fruit (15:7-8a).
2. It results in glorifying the Father (15:8b).
II. LOVING (15:9-17)
A. The priority (15:9-12) or the progression
1. The Father loves the Son (15:9b, 10b).
2. The Son loves the believer (15:9a, 10a, 11).
3. The believer is to love other believers (15:12).
B. The proof (15:13-15)
1. What Jesus will do for his disciples (15:13): He will lay down his life.
2. What Jesus now does for his disciples (15:14-15): He calls them friends, not servants.
C. The promises (15:16-17)
1. Our branches will bear permanent fruit (15:16a).
2. Our prayers will be answered (15:16b-17). 7 v.7
III. SUFFERING (15:18-25)
A. The facts (15:18-24)
1. All Christians will be hated because Christ was hated (15:18-19).
2. No servant is greater than his master (15:20-21).
3. The reason for this hatred is Jesus' fearless preaching against sin (15:22-24).
B. The foretelling (15:25): All this is predicted in Psalms 35:19 and 69:4.
IV. WITNESSING (15:26-27): Jesus speaks of a twofold witness.
A. The Holy Spirit will soon witness to the disciples concerning the Savior (15:26).
B. The disciples should then witness to the world concerning the Savior (15:27).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discovery Bible Study process: https://www.dbsguide.org/
Retell the story in your own words.
Discovery the story
What does this story tell me about God?
What does this story tell me about people?
If this is really true, what should I do?
What is God saying to you right now? (Write this down)
What are you going to do about it? (Write this down)
Who am I going to tell about this?
Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast
Alternate Discussion Questions (by Jeff Vanderstelt): Based on this passage:
Who is God?
What has he done/is he doing/is he going to do?
Who am I? (In light of 1 & 2)
What do I get to do? (In light of who I am)
How do I do it?
Final Questions (Write this down)
What is God saying to you right now?
What are you going to do about it?
BONUS FUN
A pirate reading John 15:1-6 according to Claude.ai:
Yarr, me hearty! I'll give ye a pirate's take on that scripture, but mind ye, I won't be quotin' it word for word to avoid any copyright kerfuffles. Here be the gist of John 15:1-6, as a salty sea dog might tell it:
"Ahoy! Listen up, ye scurvy bilge rats! The cap'n above, he be the true vine, and his old man be the gardener. Any branch not bearin' fruit gets the chop, while them that do bear fruit get a good trimmin' to make 'em even more fruitful!
Ye've been cleaned up by the words I've spoken to ye, so stick with me like barnacles on a ship's hull! Just as a branch can't bear fruit without bein' part of the vine, neither can ye unless ye stay with me.
I be the vine, and ye be the branches. Them that stay with me and I with them, they'll be producin' a bounty of fruit. Without me, ye can't do nothin', ye useless landlubbers!
If a scallywag don't stick with me, they be cast off like a branch and wither away. Them dried up branches? They be gathered up and tossed into the fire, burnin' like a ship's galley on a cold night!"
There ye have it, matey! That be the pirate's version of them verses, without steppin' on any copyright toes. Shiver me timbers!
ChatGPT after 3 salty iterations:
Aye, aye, ye scurvy dog! Here's John 15:1-6, as salty as the seven seas:
"Yarr, I be the true vine, and me Father be the mighty vinekeeper. Every worthless branch in me that bears no fruit, He chops off and feeds to the kraken; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes with a cutlass, so it yields even more bounty. Ye be already clean 'cause o' the words I be givin' ye. Stay hitched to me, and I'll stay hitched to ye. Just as a branch can't bear fruit on its own unless it stays with the vine, ye can't either, unless ye stick with me. I be the vine, and ye be the scurvy branches. He who sticks with me, and I with him, will bear much fruit; without me, ye be nothin' but barnacles on a rottin' hull. If a scallywag ain't stayin' with me, he be thrown aside like a dead branch and withers away; they gather 'em up, toss 'em into the flames, and watch 'em burn to cinders."
MAIN REFERENCES USED
“John", by Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word Commentary, Edited by Kent Hughes
Exalting Jesus in John, by Matt Carter, Edited by David Platt, Daniel Akin, Tony Merida
“Look at the Book” by John Piper (LATB)
“The Visual Word,” Patrick Schreiner (VW)
“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)
“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)
Outline Bible, D Willmington (OB)
Willmington’s Bible Handbook, D Willmington (WBH)
NIV Study Bible (NIVSB) https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/
Chronological Life Application Study Bible (NLT)
ESV Study Bible (ESVSB) https://www.esv.org
“The Bible in One Year 2023 with Nicky Gumbel” bible reading plan on YouVersion app (BIOY)
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, IVP
The Light Has Come, Leslie Newbigin
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